ArticlemBio2020
Rethinking Gain-of-Function Experiments in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in mBio, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Dual use and gain-of-function research: a significant endeavor with biosecurity imperatives.mSphere · 2025Article
- Limiting open science? Three approaches to bottom-up governance of dual-use research of concern.Pathogens and global health · 2024Review
- The Epistemic Value of Gain of Function Experiments.mSphere · 2024Article
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- Categorizing Sequences of Concern by Function To Better Assess Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenesis.Infection and immunity · 2022Review
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- Applications of Deep Mutational Scanning in Virology.Viruses · 2021Review
- Dual-Use Quickscan: A Web-Based Tool to Assess the Dual-Use Potential of Life Science Research.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Proponents of the use of gain-of-function (GOF) experiments with pathogens with pandemic potential (PPP) have argued that such experiments are necessary because they reveal important facets of pathogenesis and can be performed safely. Opponents of GOF experiments with PPP have argued that the risks outweigh the knowledge gained. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the vulnerability of human societies to a new PPP, while also validating some arguments of both camps, questioning others, and suggesting the need to rethink how we approach this class of experiments.
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Identifiers
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.