US ban on gain-of-function research

In late July 2026 the U.S. administration announced a sweeping policy that ends federal support for high‑risk gain‑of‑function (GOF) research. The first announcement detailed the termination of GOF programs and a severe reduction of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), halting dozens of grants and dismissing most of its staff. The following day, specific funding rules were issued, prohibiting any federal financing for GOF virus work both domestically and abroad and linking the decision to concerns that COVID‑19 may have originated from such laboratory work in China.

On July 28 the State Department and HHS framed GOF work as enhancing dangerous properties of pathogens and posing threats to public health, national security and the economy, and required any U.S.–funded life‑sciences research abroad to meet U.S. oversight standards. The cuts to AHRQ halted at least 104 grants, spent under $15 million of the FY budget and led to roughly 75 % staff loss, ending patient‑safety research that had saved lives for decades. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presented the moves as protecting Americans while preserving U.S. leadership in ethical biomedical science.

A July 31 policy memo set the ban to take effect in mid‑November, defining “dual‑use GOF” and “International Research of Concern,” mandating an independent review board, disclosure of foreign collaborations, and tighter biosafety sanctions. New NIH director Jay Bhattacharya praised the ban, pledged greater transparency, a pandemic‑response playbook and a vaccine‑injury compensation program, emphasizing reduced laboratory‑accident risk while maintaining essential research under stricter safeguards.