The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has released an inconclusive audit report, revealing that it does not know how much research involving gain-of-function is being conducted in China or other nations. Despite the department spending more than $1.4 billion on research abroad between 2014 and 2023, significant limitations with the adequacy of data make it difficult to track funding at a granular level. As a result, it is unclear whether the Department of Defense (DoD) has funded Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for risky experiments such as the enhancement of potential pandemic pathogens.
The DoD classifies this type of research as “offensive biological work,” and according to the 20-page report, the full extent of defense funding for it remains unknown. The report cites seven primary grants that flowed through subrecipients to contracting research organizations in China or other foreign countries for research related to potential enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential. However, the DoD maintains that these experiments did not involve “strengthening” any viruses.
Between 2019 and 2020, the US Army Medical Research and Development Command gave over $6.5 million in grants to WuXi AppTec, a biotech company with ties to the Chinese military. These funds were allocated to test antivirals in cells and animals using non-enhanced pathogens, including the SARS-CoV-2, Dengue, Ebola, and Chikungunya viruses. An unredacted version of the report reviewed by The Post also reveals that $2 million in grant money was used to infect cells and animals with non-modified SARS-CoV-2 in China and India in 2021.
Another grant of nearly $1.6 million involved exposing mice to Dengue and Ebola viruses that were “enhanced or modified” in Belgium and the United Kingdom in 2015. In total, the audit covered 12,660 grants amounting to more than $1.4 billion.
The results of this audit have been described as “alarming,” with many expressing concerns about the lack of oversight on funding allocated to foreign research organizations. Dr. Bryce Nickels, a Rutgers professor of genetics and co-founder of the pandemic oversight group Biosafety Now, has criticized the watchdog report for not being able to identify a single source that encompasses all pathogens of pandemic potential.
Despite the Department of Defense’s assurances that none of its funding was allocated to China or other foreign countries for research involving the enhancement of pathogens, questions remain about the adequacy of oversight and transparency in this area. As a result, there is a growing call for accountability from current and former officials who allowed these research activities to proceed without proper oversight.
