Thursday, August 15, 2024

Still funding gain-of-function disaster

Pentagon still funneling money to suspended EcoHealth Alliance, unable to access potential gain-of-function research data abroad


The Pentagon is still funneling money to the suspended grantee EcoHealth Alliance and is unable to fully access data on gain-of-function research it may be funding overseas — including in China, according to a letter exclusively obtained by The Post.

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante in a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) revealed the shocking lapses in oversight from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which is tasked with countering threats from weapons of mass destruction.

“Data generated through these projects are the property of the partner country and are used to generate periodic reporting,” Laplante told Ernst in the Aug. 1 missive.

“While [the Department of Defense] does not have direct access to this data, DoD encourages all Cooperative Threat Reduction grantees to publish results so that the data is accessible to the international community,” he added.


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