NSABB Finalizes Recommendations for Increased Oversight of Gain-of-Function Pathogen Research

This week, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) returned to its ongoing deliberation over the scope and form of oversight of gain of function (GOF) research on viruses and other pathogens. Since a moratorium on federal funding was declared in 2014, the NSABB has been working on establishing guidelines both for funding and oversight of this specific research area. The concerns over GOF research are that experiments could produce particularly dangerous pathogens which pose public health risks (see earlier post for background). In this review, the NSABB actually focused its attention on a subset of GOF research, defined as Gain of Function Research of Concern (GOFROC):

[T]he working group identified the attributes of GOFROC, which is research that could generate a pathogen that is: 1) highly transmissible and likely capable of wide and uncontrollable spread in human populations; and 2) highly virulent and likely to cause significant morbidity and/or mortality in humans. 

In its public meeting this week, the NSABB adopted recommendations from a report by its own internal working group; they are as follows (underlined for emphasis): 

1: Research proposals involving GOF research of concern entail significant potential risks and should receive an additional, multidisciplinary review, prior to determining whether they are acceptable for funding. If funded, such projects should be subject to ongoing oversight at the Federal and institutional level. 
2: An external advisory body that is designed for transparency and public engagement should be utilized as part of the U.S. government’s ongoing evaluation of oversight policies for GOF research of concern. 
3: The U.S. government should pursue an adaptive policy approach to help ensure that oversight remains commensurate with the risks associated with the GOF research of concern. 
4: In general, oversight mechanisms for GOF research of concern should be incorporated into existing policy frameworks when possible. 
5: The U.S. government should consider ways to ensure that all GOF research of concern conducted within the U.S. or by U.S. companies be subject to oversight, regardless of funding source. 
6: The U.S. government should undertake broad efforts to strengthen laboratory biosafety and biosecurity and, as part of these efforts, seek to raise awareness about the specific issues associated with GOF research of concern. 
7: The U.S. government should engage the international community in a dialogue about the oversight and responsible conduct of GOF research of concern. 

This completes the current NSABB review of federal policies pertaining to GOF/GOFROC research. However, the report does recommend an ongoing institutional apparatus to review policies, not individual experiments. It also recommends that privately-funded experiments involving GOFROC receive additional oversight, although that could require Congressional action. Finally, against a backdrop of reported safety lapses at federal laboratories (see here and here), the NSABB locates improved biosafety and biosecurity measures as an equally important concern in establishing how GOFROC can be managed.