In 2012 Dr. Fauci stated that he believed the benefits associated with gain-of-function research far outweighed the costs (i.e. pandemics).
According to Zerohedge:
America’s top virologist, Anthony Fauci, argued in 2012 that the risks of a lab accident sparking a pandemic are outweighed by the potential benefits of manipulating viruses via gain-of-function research, according to previously unsurfaced remarks reported by Sharri Markson via The Australian.
“In an unlikely but conceivable turn of events, what if that scientist becomes infected with the virus, which leads to an outbreak and ultimately triggers a pandemic?” Fauci wrote in the American Society for Microbiology in 2012, adding “Many ask reasonable questions: given the possibility of such a scenario – however remote – should the initial experiments have been performed and/or published in the first place, and what were the processes involved in this decision?”
“Scientists working in this field might say – as indeed I have said – that the benefits of such experiments and the resulting knowledge outweigh the risks,” Fauci continued. “It is more likely that a pandemic would occur in nature, and the need to stay ahead of such a threat is a primary reason for performing an experiment that might appear to be risky.“
Also in 2012 Fauci spoke before Congress. The transcripts from his talk and the video were difficult to find as if they’ve been hidden for some reason. In 2012 before the Senate, here is Fauci’s testimony:
This video was located by Scuba Mike on Twitter.
In the transcript Fauci refers to DURC which stands for dual-use or gain of function research. He admitted the possibility of malevolent applications of the research:
As you mentioned in your statement, the issue at hand is the ongoing threat of the emergence of an H5N1 pandemic influenza and the research that was supported by the NIH to address this threat. The publication of the results of such research in the form of the two manuscripts that you mentioned has focused considerable public attention on the issue of dual-use research, namely research that is directed at providing new information critical to the public health, but at the same time has the potential for malevolent applications.
Fauci noted that the research should be transparent but a decade later was all but transparent in regards to his actions related to the China coronavirus (COVID-19):
The ultimate goal of the NIH in its embrace of this new policy is to ensure that the conduct and communication of research in this area remain transparent and open at the same time as the risk-benefit ratio of such research clearly tips towards benefitting society…
…The public, which has a stake in the risks as well as in the benefits of such research, deserves a rational and transparent explanation of how these decisions are made. The upcoming dialogue related to this policy certainly will be informative and, hopefully, productive in its goal of benefiting the public with the fruits of such research while ameliorating the associated risks. Thank you.
Dr. Fauci was involved in gain-of-function research for the past decade or longer. He believed the rewards outweighed the risks. Then along came the China cornonavirus – COVID-19.
Hat tip Kevin O’Rourke
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