Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) launched an investigation on Friday into the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s, potentially dangerous research on viruses with pandemic-causing potential, bringing a conflict at the state level into the national spotlight.
Three Republican state legislators in Wisconsin introduced a bill in August that would have prevented universities and colleges from performing gain-of-function research, or manipulating existing viruses to take on other qualities, such as transmissibility.
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The bill would have also required researchers to submit safety reports to the state Department of Health Services 90 days prior to beginning research on potential pandemic pathogens, or PPPs.
Wenstrup, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, sent a letter to the university chancellor, Jennifer Mnookin, regarding the university’s protestation of the proposed law despite the allegations of several safety violations in the institution’s handling of PPP research since 2011.
“UW has already shown it has the capabilities to modify pathogens and make them more dangerous,” Wenstrup wrote. “In 2011, Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka revealed to the world that he had modified the deadly avian H5N1 influenza virus so it could spread between ferrets … which most closely mimic human response to the flu. The H5N1 virus is a ‘potential pandemic pathogen,’ which through modification or handling could cause another global pandemic.”
Wenstrup also described in the letter an incident with H5N1 in 2013, during which a researcher was accidentally infected with the virus with a needle being used for unauthorized purposes. The letter also explained that the researcher infected with the virus had to quarantine at home while their family went to a hotel despite the fact that the university told the Wisconsin DHS that the school would have a designated quarantine apartment in the event of an emergency.
UW spokeswoman Kelly Tyrrell told Wisconsin Health News in early August that the university has “several layers of oversight” for PPP research.
“The ability to safely study harmful viruses, bacteria and other pathogens is critically important for protecting public health and the food supply,” Tyrrell said. “UW-Madison is committed to ensuring that its researchers who work with high-risk pathogens have safe and secure laboratories and receive training and certification to ensure their investigations are conducted safely.”
Tyrrell did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
The controversy surrounding gain-of-function and PPP research stems in part from their connection to the potential origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Some hypothesize that SARS-CoV-2 originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, which has been found to have poor safety standards.
“No one denies there can be dangers with ‘gain of function’ experiments, especially if toxins and transmissible pathogens break out,” said Tom Still at the Wisconsin Technology Council, opposing the proposed state legislation. “Wisconsin isn’t Wuhan, however, and it doesn’t make sense to adopt a ban that would halt important research or put Wisconsin scientists at a competitive disadvantage.”
Wenstrup’s letter to Mnookin requested all documents and communications related to the university’s PPP and Dual Use Research of Concern, which could also have broader bio-safety implications, which are expected by the subcommittee no later than Sept. 15.
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Specifically, Wenstrup requested communications between university researchers, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and EcoHealth Alliance, an organization that funds gain-of-function research.
The Democrats on the subcommittee did not wish to comment on the investigation when asked by the Washington Examiner.
