I consider gain of function research to be biological weapon research. Although theoretically it is supposed to examine how to handle potential virus mutations in can result in enhanced virus escapes that harm us.
Covid technically is a biological weapon. It has biologically attacked every country on the planet. It could be a natural weapon coming from nature or a man made one. We do not know.
These articles point to genetic engineering as markers have been found that have never been seen in nature. You can decide if they are accurate or not. At a minimum these raise additional questions.
You never seem to encounter a conspiracy theory you don't immediately subscribe to. Everything you assert here is simply wild speculation without any facts or critical thinking.
It is true that there is a possibility that COVID "could" have escaped from the lab in Wuhan but there is zero evidence that COVID is a bio-weapon. For one thing, COVID and coronaviruses in general are not the type of pathogens that would ordinarily be used for a bio-weapon because they are not targetable. It’s too contagious and difficult to control to be useful as a weapon. No nation would create a bio weapon that could quickly spread all over the world including back to the country that launched the weapon.
Additionally, gain of function research is
not biological weapons research. While gain of function research "could" be used in bio weapons research its everyday use in modern virology is far more benign in most circumstances. It is used in biology and virology labs as part of standard research such as learning how influenza virus might evolve to cause a future pandemic. Gain of function research that involves the modification of bacteria has allowed for the production of human insulin and other breakthrough medical treatments.
Many gain-of-function experiments could never pose an existential threat. Instead, they have provided huge benefits to humanity. All the way back in 1937, researchers found that when they passed the yellow fever virus through chicken cells, it lost the ability to cause disease in humans — a
discovery that led to a vaccine for yellow fever. Likewise, using gain of function research, herpes viruses have been engineered to gain a new function of their own: attacking cancer cells. They’re now an approved treatment for
melanoma.
And COVID is NOT a biological weapon! It is no more a "weapon" than cancer, influenza, measles, ebola, malaria or any other deadly natural disease found all over the world. The fact that you "believe" it to be a weapon is more indicative of the tendency you've shown on this forum to habitually indulge in conspiracy theories, and usually these are emanating from the right-wing propaganda fodder of the day. Like everything else in today's politics, it is once again the Republicans who are primarily promoting the Wuhan lab leak theory, although US intelligence agencies do not agree with this theory at this point in time.
A preponderance of evidence proves the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility, said a report by U.S. Republicans released on Monday, a conclusion that U.S. intelligence agencies have not reached.
www.reuters.com
Not a single one of these links you posted ever mentions the term "bio-weapon". The two professors are merely stating their belief that COVID was a manipulated virus but at no time do they make the leap to calling it a "bio-weapon" as you do.
Gain of function research is clearly not without risks and it has been endlessly debated and in some circumstances regulated. Here is the US at least, gain of function research for pandemics is strictly regulated and each project is reviewed before it can proceed. However you may want to characterize it, it is NOT biological weapons research as you state you believe it to be.
Meanwhile, a group of 21 prominent scientists contends that there is more evidence to support a natural spillover from animals to humans than any lab leak theory.
In a review of recent studies and comparisons to other outbreaks, a group of virologists contends that there is more evidence to support a natural spillover from animals to humans.
www.nytimes.com
Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogen
Potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs) are bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that can become highly transmissible and capable of wide, uncontrollable spread in human populations and are highly infectious or harmful, making them likely to cause significant morbidity and/or mortality in humans.
www.nih.gov
Gain-of-function (GOF) research involves experimentation that aims or is expected to (and/or, perhaps, actually does) increase the transmissibility and/or virulence of pathogens. Such research, when conducted by responsible scientists, usually aims to improve understanding of disease causing...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov