Abstract
Viruses have brought humanity many challenges: respiratory infection, cancer, neurological impairment and immunosuppression to name a few. Virology research over the last 601 years has responded to reduce this disease burden with vaccines and antivirals. Despite this long history, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented attention to the field of virology. Some of this attention is focused on concern about the safe conduct of research with human pathogens. A small but vocal group of individuals has seized upon these concerns - conflating legitimate questions about safely conducting virus-related research with uncertainties over the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The result has fueled public confusion and, in many instances, ill-informed condemnation of virology. With this article, we seek to promote a return to rational discourse. We explain the use of gain-of-function approaches in science, discuss the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 and outline current regulatory structures that provide oversight for virological research in the United States. By offering our expertise, we - a broad group of working virologists - seek to aid policy makers in navigating these controversial issues. Balanced, evidence-based discourse is essential to addressing public concern while maintaining and expanding much-needed research in virology.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Journal | mBio |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2023 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Coronavirus
- DURC
- Gain of function
- SARS-CoV-2
- biosafety
- influenza
- pandemic
- vaccines
- zoonosis
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In: mBio, Vol. 14, No. 1, 01.2023.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Virology under the Microscope-a Call for Rational Discourse
AU - Goodrum, Felicia
AU - Lowen, Anice C.
AU - Lakdawala, Seema
AU - Alwine, James
AU - Casadevall, Arturo
AU - Imperiale, Michael J.
AU - Atwood, Walter
AU - Avgousti, Daphne
AU - Baines, Joel
AU - Banfield, Bruce
AU - Banks, Lawrence
AU - Bhaduri-McIntosh, Sumita
AU - Bhattacharya, Deepta
AU - Blanco-Melo, Daniel
AU - Bloom, David
AU - Boon, Adrianus
AU - Boulant, Steeve
AU - Brandt, Curtis
AU - Broadbent, Andrew
AU - Brooke, Christopher
AU - Cameron, Craig
AU - Campos, Samuel
AU - Caposio, Patrizia
AU - Chan, Gary
AU - Cliffe, Anna
AU - Coffin, John
AU - Collins, Kathleen
AU - Damania, Blossom
AU - Daugherty, Matthew
AU - Debbink, Kari
AU - DeCaprio, James
AU - Dermody, Terence
AU - Dikeakos, Jimmy
AU - DiMaio, Daniel
AU - Dinglasan, Rhoel
AU - Duprex, W. Paul
AU - Dutch, Rebecca
AU - Elde, Nels
AU - Emerman, Michael
AU - Enquist, Lynn
AU - Fane, Bentley
AU - Fernandez-Sesma, Ana
AU - Flenniken, Michelle
AU - Frappier, Lori
AU - Frieman, Matthew
AU - Frueh, Klaus
AU - Gack, Michaela
AU - Gaglia, Marta
AU - Gallagher, Tom
AU - Galloway, Denise
AU - García-Sastre, Adolfo
AU - Geballe, Adam
AU - Glaunsinger, Britt
AU - Goff, Stephen
AU - Greninger, Alexander
AU - Hancock, Meaghan
AU - Harris, Eva
AU - Heaton, Nicholas
AU - Heise, Mark
AU - Heldwein, Ekaterina
AU - Hogue, Brenda
AU - Horner, Stacy
AU - Hutchinson, Edward
AU - Hyser, Joseph
AU - Jackson, William
AU - Kalejta, Robert
AU - Kamil, Jeremy
AU - Karst, Stephanie
AU - Kirchhoff, Frank
AU - Knipe, David
AU - Kowalik, Timothy
AU - Lagunoff, Michael
AU - Laimins, Laimonis
AU - Langlois, Ryan
AU - Lauring, Adam
AU - Lee, Benhur
AU - Leib, David
AU - Liu, Shan Lu
AU - Longnecker, Richard
AU - Lopez, Carolina
AU - Luftig, Micah
AU - Lund, Jennifer
AU - Manicassamy, Balaji
AU - McFadden, Grant
AU - McIntosh, Michael
AU - Mehle, Andrew
AU - Miller, W. Allen
AU - Mohr, Ian
AU - Moody, Cary
AU - Moorman, Nathaniel
AU - Moscona, Anne
AU - Mounce, Bryan
AU - Munger, Joshua
AU - Münger, Karl
AU - Murphy, Eain
AU - Naghavi, Mojgan
AU - Nelson, Jay
AU - Neufeldt, Christopher
AU - Nikolich, Janko
AU - O'Connor, Christine
AU - Ono, Akira
AU - Orenstein, Walter
AU - Ornelles, David
AU - Ou, Jing Hsiung
AU - Parker, John
AU - Parrish, Colin
AU - Pekosz, Andrew
AU - Pellett, Philip
AU - Pfeiffer, Julie
AU - Plemper, Richard
AU - Polyak, Stephen
AU - Purdy, John
AU - Pyeon, Dohun
AU - Quinones-Mateu, Miguel
AU - Renne, Rolf
AU - Rice, Charles
AU - Schoggins, John
AU - Roller, Richard
AU - Russell, Charles
AU - Sandri-Goldin, Rozanne
AU - Sapp, Martin
AU - Schang, Luis
AU - Schmid, Scott
AU - Schultz-Cherry, Stacey
AU - Semler, Bert
AU - Shenk, Thomas
AU - Silvestri, Guido
AU - Simon, Viviana
AU - Smith, Gregory
AU - Smith, Jason
AU - Spindler, Katherine
AU - Stanifer, Megan
AU - Subbarao, Kanta
AU - Sundquist, Wesley
AU - Suthar, Mehul
AU - Sutton, Troy
AU - Tai, Andrew
AU - Tarakanova, Vera
AU - tenOever, Benjamin
AU - Tibbetts, Scott
AU - Tompkins, Stephen
AU - Toth, Zsolt
AU - van Doorslaer, Koenraad
AU - Vignuzzi, Marco
AU - Wallace, Nicholas
AU - Walsh, Derek
AU - Weekes, Michael
AU - Weinberg, Jason
AU - Weitzman, Matthew
AU - Weller, Sandra
AU - Whelan, Sean
AU - White, Elizabeth
AU - Williams, Bryan
AU - Wobus, Christiane
AU - Wong, Scott
AU - Yurochko, Andrew
N1 - Funding Information: T.S.D.: Board of Directors, Burroughs Wellcome Fund; Editor, Annual Review of Virology. D.D. is on the scientific advisory board of Theriva. W.P.D. receives support from Moderna. M. F. receives funding from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Gates Foundation, Aikido Pharma, Emergent, Astrazeneca, Novavax, Regeneron, and the CDC, outside the submitted work. M. F. received royalties/licenses from Aikido Pharma for antiviral drug patent licensing, consulting fees from Aikido Pharma, Observatory Group, for consulting for COVID-19, and participation on Scientific Advisory Board for Aikido Pharma, outside the submitted work. K.F. has substantial financial interest in Vir Biotechnology, Inc., and is a co-founder of the company. K.F. is co-inventor of patents licensed to Vir and receives compensation for consulting for Vir. The potential conflicts of interest have been reviewed and managed by OHSU. D.G. is on the HPV Global Advisory Board for Merck. The A.G.-S. laboratory has received research support from GSK, Pfizer, Senhwa Biosciences, Kenall Manufacturing, Blade Therapeutics, Avimex, Johnson & Johnson, Dynavax, 7Hills Pharma, Pharmamar, ImmunityBio, Accurius, Nanocomposix, Hexamer, N-fold LLC, Model Medicines, Atea Pharma, Applied Biological Laboratories and Merck. A.G.-S. has consulting agreements for the following companies involving cash and/or stock: Castlevax, Amovir, Vivaldi Biosciences, Contrafect, 7Hills Pharma, Avimex, Pagoda, Accurius, Esperovax, Farmak, Applied Biological Laboratories, Pharmamar, CureLab Oncology, CureLab Veterinary, Synairgen and Pfizer. A.G.-S. has been an invited speaker in meeting events organized by Seqirus, Janssen, Abbott and Astrazeneca. A.G.-S. is inventor on patents and patent applications on the use of antivirals and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of virus infections and cancer, owned by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. B.A.G. is on the scientific advisory board for IMUNON. A.L.G. reports central testing contracts from Pfizer, Janssen, Novavax, Sanofi, Abbott, Hologic, Cepheid, and Quidel, and research support from Gilead.E.E.H.is co-founderof Thyreos Inc. E.C.H. has carried out research work in collaboration with AstraZeneca and received honoraria for consultancy work for the Center for Open Science and Seqirus. M.J.I. consults for Gilead Sciences and Via Nova Therapeutics. D.M.K. is a consultant, Replay Bio. T.K. receives funding from Moderna related to CMV. A.S.L. is a paid member of steering committee for clinical trial of baloxavir (Roche). A.C.L. is an inventor on the patent Influenza Vaccines and Uses Thereof, owned by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. G.M. is co-founder of a biotech company devoted to oncolytic virotherapy. W.A.M. is coinventor of a pending patent application on improved mRNA vaccines. A. Moscona is scientific founder of Thylacine Biotherapeutics, a startup company for antiviral therapeutics. J.A.N., Vir Biotechnology. W.A.O., uncompensated Funding Information: No funding was used to support this commentary, but we wish to disclose funding from agencies received by authors. JCA None WJA NIH DCA NIH JDB NIH BWB CIHR, NSERC LB Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro, ICGEB SBM NIH DB NIH, Private Foundation DBM Private Foundation DCB NIH, Private Foundation ACB NIH SB None CRB NIH, NSF, Private Foundation AJB USDA, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), UK CBB NIH, DOD CEC NIH SKC NIH PC NIH AC NIH GCC NIH ARC NIH, Private Foundation JMC NIH KC NIH BD NIH MDD NIH, Burroughs Wellcome Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Program KD None JAD NIH, Private Foundation TSD NIH, Private Foundation, Heinz Endowments JDD Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada DD NIH RRD NIH, USDA, Private Foundation WPD NIH, Zoetis LLC, Moderna, Coalition for Epidemics Preparedness Initiatives (CEPI) RED NIH NCE NIH, Howard Hughes Medical Institute ME NIH LWE None BAF NSF AFS NIH MLF NSF, USDA, Private Foundation LF Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) MBF NIH, Novavax, Astrazeneca, Pfizer, BARDA, Eli Lilly KF NIH, DOD, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation MUG NIH MMG NIH, Private Foundation TG NIH DG NIH, Private Foundation AG-S NIH, DOD, Private Foundation APG NIH BAG NIH, Howard Hughes Medical Institute SPG NIH, Private Foundation FG NIH ALG None MHH NIH EH NIH NSH NIH, DOD, Private Foundation MTH NIH EEH NIH, Private Foundation BGH NIH, NSF SMH NIH ECH UK Medical Research Council, UK Medical Research Council JMH NIH MJI NIH, Via Nova Therapeutics WTJ NIH RFK NIH JPK NIH SMK NIH FK German research foundation (DFG), European research council (ERC) DMK NIH TK NIH, Moderna ML NIH LL NIH SSL NIH RAL NIH ASL NIH, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Flu Lab, CDC BL NIH, NSF, Private Foundation DAL NIH SL NIH, Private donor's fund, Ohio State. startup fund RML NIH CBL NIH ACL NIH, Private Foundation MAL NIH JML NIH BM NIH GM NIH MTM NIH, DHS AMehle NIH, Private Foundation WAM NIH, Plant Sciences Institute, Iowa State University IM NIH CM NIH NJM NIH AMoscona NIH BCM NIH KM NIH JCM NIH EAM NIH MHN NIH JAN NIH CJN None JZN NIH CMO None AO NIH WAO NIH, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation DAO NIH, Private Foundation JHJO NIH JSP NIH CRP NIH, Private Foundation AP NIH, Private Foundation, CDC PEP NIH JKP NIH, Private Foundation RKP NIH, DOD, Gilead Sciences, Enanta Pharmaceuticals SJP None JGP NIH DP NIH, Private Foundation MQM NIH, Private Foundation RR NIH CMR NIH, Private Foundation RJR NIH CJR NIH RS-G NIH MS NIH LMS NIH, Cornell University, Private donors, Fast Grants SS None JWS NIH SSC NIH, Private Foundation BLS NIH TS NIH, DOD GS NIH, Private Foundation VS NIH, Private Foundation GAS NIH, USDA JGS NIH KRS NIH MLS start-up funds from the University of Florida KS Australian government, NHRMC WIS NIH MSS NIH TCS NIH, USDA AWT NIH VLT NIH, Private Foundation BT NIH, DOD, Private Foundation SAT NIH SMT NIH ZT NIH KVD NIH, Private Foundation MV None NAW NIH DW NIH MPW Medical Research Council, UK (MR/W025647/1); UKRI mpox research consortium (BB/X011143/1) JBW NIH MDW NIH SKW NIH EAW NIH, Private Foundation SPJW NIH, Private Foundation, USAID, Vir Biotechnology BRGW Private Foundation CEW NIH, University of Michigan SWW NIH ADY NIH. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Goodrum et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Viruses have brought humanity many challenges: respiratory infection, cancer, neurological impairment and immunosuppression to name a few. Virology research over the last 601 years has responded to reduce this disease burden with vaccines and antivirals. Despite this long history, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented attention to the field of virology. Some of this attention is focused on concern about the safe conduct of research with human pathogens. A small but vocal group of individuals has seized upon these concerns - conflating legitimate questions about safely conducting virus-related research with uncertainties over the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The result has fueled public confusion and, in many instances, ill-informed condemnation of virology. With this article, we seek to promote a return to rational discourse. We explain the use of gain-of-function approaches in science, discuss the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 and outline current regulatory structures that provide oversight for virological research in the United States. By offering our expertise, we - a broad group of working virologists - seek to aid policy makers in navigating these controversial issues. Balanced, evidence-based discourse is essential to addressing public concern while maintaining and expanding much-needed research in virology.
AB - Viruses have brought humanity many challenges: respiratory infection, cancer, neurological impairment and immunosuppression to name a few. Virology research over the last 601 years has responded to reduce this disease burden with vaccines and antivirals. Despite this long history, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented attention to the field of virology. Some of this attention is focused on concern about the safe conduct of research with human pathogens. A small but vocal group of individuals has seized upon these concerns - conflating legitimate questions about safely conducting virus-related research with uncertainties over the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The result has fueled public confusion and, in many instances, ill-informed condemnation of virology. With this article, we seek to promote a return to rational discourse. We explain the use of gain-of-function approaches in science, discuss the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 and outline current regulatory structures that provide oversight for virological research in the United States. By offering our expertise, we - a broad group of working virologists - seek to aid policy makers in navigating these controversial issues. Balanced, evidence-based discourse is essential to addressing public concern while maintaining and expanding much-needed research in virology.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Coronavirus
KW - DURC
KW - Gain of function
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - biosafety
KW - influenza
KW - pandemic
KW - vaccines
KW - zoonosis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149154376&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1128/mbio.00188-23
DO - 10.1128/mbio.00188-23
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36700642
AN - SCOPUS:85149154376
SN - 2161-2129
VL - 14
JO - mBio
JF - mBio
IS - 1
ER -