A state senator from Eastern Wisconsin has co-sponsored a bill aimed at ending the practice of gain-of-function experimentation.
Senator Andre Jacuq, along with Representatives Elijah Behnke of Oconto Falls and Ty Bodden of Hilbert have joined to gather to pen the bill.
They explain that gain-of-function (GoF) experimentation “involves the augmentation of deadly pathogens to artificially make a viral or bacterial disease more infectious – and more lethal.”
The trio pointed to some incidents at UW Madison which they say have “raised questions as to whether UW researchers followed federal guidelines and timely reported two biosecurity breaches during GoF experiments.”
One of the incidents saw a researcher being exposed to a virus while examining a sample in 2013, and another incident involved false information provided to investigators after a researcher’s respirator became disconnected while collecting samples of a lab-enhanced bird flu in 2019.
The proposed legislation would prohibit institutions of higher education in this state from conducting gain-of-function research on potential pandemic pathogens.
