Despite the importance of GoF modifications, they have sometimes faced misplaced concerns or opposition that could lead to their being overregulated or even banned.

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) The term “gain of function” is often taken to refer to research with viruses that puts ...

Colin D. Butler is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Doctors for the Environment, Australia. The United Nations Environment Programme recently published a scientific review that looks ...

How can a virus with only five proteins dominate a human cell that contains thousands? This question has long puzzled ...

Inside the high-security Influenza Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, two experienced scientists were pulling ferrets out of their HEPA-filtered cages on a Monday in December ...

The term “gain of function” is often taken to refer to research with viruses that puts society at risk of an infectious disease outbreak for questionable gain. Some research on emerging viruses can ...

Gain-of-function experiments in the lab can help researchers get ahead of viruses naturally gaining the ability to infect people in the wild. KTSDesign/Science Photo Library via Getty Images As ...