ReviewNature reviews. Microbiology2015
Gain-of-function experiments: time for a real debate.
Review in Nature reviews. Microbiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mirror microbial life and the dual use dilemma.mSphere · 2026Article
- Modeling the effects of routine screening for accidental lab-acquired infections on the risk of potential pandemic pathogen escape from high-biosafety research facilities.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- How Can 'Health in All Policies' Help Maximise the Potential of Microbial Biotechnologies for Health, Equity and Sustainability?Microbial biotechnology · 2025Review
- Governing Dual-Use Research of Concern in the Life Sciences: United States and Canada Policy Comparative Analysis and Recommendations.Applied biosafety : journal of the American Biological Safety Association · 2025Article
- Balancing Innovation and Safety: Frameworks and Considerations for the Governance of Dual-Use Research of Concern and Potential Pandemic Pathogens.Applied biosafety : journal of the American Biological Safety Association · 2025Review
- Pharmaceutical Humanities and Narrative Pharmacy: An Emerging New Concept in Pharmacy.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Mapping variation in dual use risk assessments of synthetic biology projects.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Bridging biosafety and biosecurity gaps: DURC and ePPP policy insights from U.S. institutions.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Biosynthesis pathways of expanding carbon chains for producing advanced biofuels.Biotechnology for biofuels and bioproducts · 2023Review
- Article
- Reconsidering the need for gain-of-function research on enhanced potential pandemic pathogens in the post-COVID-19 era.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Article
- The future of zoonotic risk prediction.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- New Frontiers in Biosafety and Biosecurity.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2021Article
- Article
- Molecular Epidemiology of Infectious Zoonotic and Livestock Diseases.Microbiology spectrum · 2020Review
- Public awareness, acceptability and risk perception about infectious diseases dual-use research of concern: a cross-sectional survey.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Article
- Multi-cellular engineered living systems: building a community around responsible research on emergence.Biofabrication · 2019Article
- Inoculating science against potential pandemics and information hazards.PLoS pathogens · 2018Article
- Why Do Exceptionally Dangerous Gain-of-Function Experiments in Influenza?Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
According to the WHO, dual use research of concern (DURC) is "life sciences research that is intended for benefit, but which might easily be misapplied to do harm". Recent studies, particularly those on influenza viruses, have led to renewed attention on DURC, as there is an ongoing debate over whether the benefits of gain-of-function (GOF) experiments that result in an increase in the transmission and/or pathogenicity of potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs) are outweighed by concerns over biosecurity and biosafety. In this Viewpoint article, proponents and opponents of GOF experiments discuss the benefits and risks associated with these studies, as well as the implications of the current debate for the scientific community and the general public, and suggest how the current discussion should move forward.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.