New documents released by the federal government regarding the United States’ funding of coronavirus research in China appear to contradict Dr. Anthony Fauci’s assertions that the National Institutes of Health did not fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan.
More than 900 pages expound on projects connected to EcoHealth Alliance. This New York City-based organization researches infectious diseases in people and animals, including bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
The Intercept obtained the cache of documents through a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act to demand transparency from NIH.
Gain-of-function research involves genetically altering an organism to enhance its biological functions. For example, in viruses, one could manipulate how contagious or severe they might be.
Critics accused Fauci of repeatedly lying to Congress and the public when he denied the NIH had any financial involvement related to gain-of-function research in the Chinese Wuhan lab.
In a tweet Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wrote, “Surprise surprise - Fauci lied again. And I was right about his agency funding novel Coronavirus research at Wuhan.”
Paul and Fauci sparred during Congressional testimony in July over the nature and funding of the research. Paul accused Fauci of “obfuscating the truth.”
The documents also revealed two grants funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where Dr. Fauci has been the director since 1984.
One proposal entitled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergency” secured a $3.1 million grant between 2014 and 2019 before the Trump administration disbanded it in April 2020. Of that money, roughly $600,000 went directly to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus experiments. A second proposal granted last year required scientists to provide NIAID details of their plans before they “further altered the mutant viruses.”
“This is a road map to the high-risk research that could have led to the current pandemic,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of the nonprofit public health investigative group U.S. Right to Know.
“The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful,” tweeted Rutgers University biology professor Richard H. Ebright.
In a statement earlier this year, NIH Director Francis Collins said, “Neither NIH nor NIAID have ever approved any grant that would have supported “gain-of-function” research on coronaviruses that would have increased their transmissibility or lethality for humans.”
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