People are worried about the biolabs in their backyards.
From Boston, Massachusetts, to Manhattan, Kansas, to Berkeley, California, activists have tried to stop risky gain-of-function research to weaponize potential pandemic pathogens.
Now, states and localities are starting to take action.
Florida has banned enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research and San Carlos, California, has banned higher-risk biolabs. A bill in Texas to restrict research on potentially pandemic pathogens passed out of committee. Wisconsin is also considering legislation to prohibit institutions of higher education from conducting gain of function research.
TAKE ACTION: Ask your state legislators to ban gain-of-function biolabs!
The origin of COVID-19 is still a mystery, but the genetic code and published research points to the likelihood that it was engineered in a lab. How it ended up creating a global pandemic is anyone’s guess, but it would be foolish not to get a better handle on gain-of-function experiments with potential pandemic pathogens.
You can see which biolabs are near us here and here.
Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
*SAMPLE TEXT TO YOUR STATE SENATORS*
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Dear [Member of State Legislature]
Florida has banned enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research and San Carlos, California, has banned higher-risk biolabs. A bill in Texas to restrict research on potentially pandemic pathogens passed out of committee, but didn’t get a floor vote.
We should do something in our state.
Shockingly, there are no statewide restrictions, regulations or even reviews of gain-of-function research on dangerous pathogens.
State regulators don’t even know where this research is taking place, what research is being done, or what safety problems or security issues the research might have.
Lab accidents occasionally result in sickness and even death, but the only way the public hears of them is through public records requests. Not all labs are public and the ones that are keep minimal records and redact their disclosures.
Labs also occasionally have security breaches, as we know from the 2001 anthrax attacks that the FBI pinned on a scientist at the U.S. biological weapons laboratories at Fort Detrick.
The origin of COVID-19 is still a mystery, but the genetic code and published research points to the likelihood that it was engineered in a lab. How it ended up creating a global pandemic is anyone’s guess, but it would be foolish not to get a better handle on gain-of-function experiments with potential pandemic pathogens.
You can see which biolabs are near us here (https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/biolabs/) and here (https://www.globalbiolabs.org/map).
Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
[Your Name]