Former FDA commissioner questions whether researchers should continue to publish sequences of novel viruses
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CBS News' Margaret Brennan during an interview that aired Sunday that he doesn't expect that the origins of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 will become clear anytime soon, barring a discovery of an intermediary animal host or a whistleblower inside China coming forward with knowledge that the virus initially spread following a lab leak.
But even though Gottlieb thinks the debate over the two possibilities will continue, he does think it's important to eventually learn what happened. If there is ever evidence the virus incidentally escaped from a lab, Gottlieb said it will change "how we try to govern research internationally." That would likely mean enhanced security standards, but Gottlieb is also left wondering whether researchers should keep publishing "sequences of novel viruses" because "once you publish that sequence as part of normal scientific discourse ... you basically provide a recipe for anyone who's a rogue actor on how to manufacture that virus."
While Gottlieb is not accusing China of doing such a thing with the novel coronavirus, he has repeatedly argued that the United States and other governing bodies should approach pandemic prevention through a national security, rather than just a scientific or public health, lens.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Band Aid 40: time to change the tune?
In the Spotlight Band Aid's massively popular 1984 hit raised around £8m for famine relief in Ethiopia and the charity has generated over £140m in total
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Starmer vs the farmers: who will win?
Today's Big Question As farmers and rural groups descend on Westminster to protest at tax changes, parallels have been drawn with the miners' strike 40 years ago
By The Week UK Published
-
How secure are royal palaces?
The Explainer Royal family's safety is back in the spotlight after the latest security breach at Windsor
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mind
Speed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
What does Covid look like in 2024?
Today's Big Question Disease experts are calling for closer monitoring as new variant fuels rise in infections
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published