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The Honorable Patty Murray Chair U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations 154 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510	The Honorable Susan Colllins Vice Chair U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations 413 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Tom Cole Chair U.S. House Committee on Appropriations 2207 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515	The Honorable Rosa DeLauro Ranking Member U.S. House Committee on Appropriations 2413 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, Chair Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro:

On behalf of the undersigned professional societies, associations and academic institutions representing a broad range of scientific, public health and clinical professionals, we write to express our strong concern with including a blanket ban on gain of function research funding in the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills for the and the

While we understand and share lawmakers’ intention to protect national security, we strongly caution against implementing an overarching ban on any gain of function research, an action which could be counterproductive to American interests. Instituting such a ban would diminish U.S. leadership in the scientific community, adversely impact public health and readiness, and could leave our active military members in harm's way.

Gain of function techniques are essential in life sciences research. The loss of gain of function research funding would essentially stop all research on pathogens including influenza, RSV and SARS, and would harm life-saving health programs that serve all Americans and the global community. Additionally, because the proposed bill language refers to “gain of function” research, which is a non-technical term that captures a broad swath of research, much of which does not have security implications, we are concerned that implementing the prohibition will have inadvertent consequences that go far beyond or fall short of Congress’ intention.

While we understand that there may be concerns with inappropriate applications of research deemed “gain of function," with adequate guidance, oversight and safety standards in place, we can prevent those types of projects from going forward without hampering valuable research that would protect and enhance our nation's health security and the United States’ ability to remain a leader on the global stage. Existing policies at the institutional, state, federal and global levels help ensure that pathogen research is conducted ethically, safely and securely by trained professionals at facilities that comply with strict physical containment provisions and policies. In May 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued extensive guidance addressing the oversight of dual use research of concern and pathogens with enhanced pandemic potential, which sets out an oversight framework for all federally funded research. We encourage Congress to allow and support implementation of these oversight policies instead of instituting a blanket ban on funding for gain of function research.

Without the ability to conduct gain of function research, we run the risk that our military would not have access to vital research needed to address strategic biological warfare vulnerabilities, assess troop readiness and complete threat assessments needed to protect against future adversarial action. In the past, robust American scientific research has been essential in developing vaccines, treatments and protections against threats, such as with smallpox and anthrax. Combating current and future adversarial biological and pathogenic warfare will require research and experiments using gain of function techniques to understand how to address new threats and improve countermeasures. Banning gain of function research would leave U.S. service members unequipped and at risk of biological attacks.

We urge you not to include a prohibition on funding gain of function research in the final FY 2025 appropriations bills. We stand ready to work with you and your colleagues to ensure that we have a robust research oversight process for gain of function research without a loss to U.S. scientific leadership, miliary readiness and public health. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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American Society for Virology
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of American Universities
Biophysical Society
Centivax, Inc.
Endocrine Society
Gerontological Society of America
Penn State University
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Stony Brook University
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Veterans for Common Sense