Obama lifted the moratorium on gain-of-function research

The media ignored a very fateful event in the waning days of the Obama administration

By 

Elizabeth Stauffer

 

January 24, 2023 07:45 AM

Independent journalist Mike McCormick served as a White House stenographer during the Obama administration, an experience that provided him with both insider knowledge and a unique perspective. In a recent Substack post, McCormick questioned why, less than two weeks prior to former President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Obama administration chose to give the “green light” to lift the moratorium on federal funding for gain-of-function research, or research intended to increase the lethality or the transmissibility of a pathogen.

In the process, he exposed some fateful developments, largely unreported by the press, that occurred in the weeks before former President Barack Obama handed over the reins to his successor.