[loveistheanswer]

>"despite some crazy people in this world"

Is making biological weapons of mass destruction crazy?

Fauci does not think so.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-flu-virus-risk-wor...

[kadoban]

That editorial advocates nothing of the sort. It's talking about studying viruses in the lab to improve our ability to fight them, and specifically mentions the risks involved and the need to keep these studies/viruses secure.

[cameldrv]

Yes, but these studies involve creating new, more dangerous viruses, that are not found in nature. We then depend on perfect containment to avoid sparking a pandemic, despite numerous examples of even high level containment failing.

[loveistheanswer]

The politically correct term that the editorial is advocating for is gain of function research.

Here's a quote from one of the referenced NIH studies in the editorial which makes it plain:

>"laboratory experiments that resulted in viruses with enhanced transmissibility in mammals"

Gain of function enhanced viruses are inherently dual use, so calling them biological weapons of mass destruction is not hyperbole.