A new federal policy halting government support for what it defines as dangerous gain-of-function research is scheduled to take effect in mid-November, and the scientific community is not in agreement about whether it will make Americans safer or slow the response to the next outbreak.
The United States Government Policy for Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research was released in July 2026. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of State issued a joint statement supporting it. The following day, the American Society for Microbiology said the policy's definitions are broad enough to shut down work the country needs.
