[DiogenesKynikos]

> Effectively, you are posing a litmus test on whether someone can reasonably comment on an issue that involves virology.

I think "understands the basics of virology" is a reasonable litmus test for who should be commenting on whether a given virology experiment is safe or not.

> Nobody intends to create a more dangerous virus on purpose.

This is not true. It's actually what the original GOF debate (focusing on influenza) was about in the 2010s.

> And if there's little to no risk, why take precautions? Why use BSL3?

Honestly? Partly to appease people like you. The scientists are being extraordinarily cautious, with a set of experiments that are highly unlikely to lead to anything particularly concerning in the first place. The danger posed by everyday people walking around with CoVID-19 is far greater than the danger posed by this experiment. Inside of labs, SARS-CoV-2 is treated like an incredibly dangerous substance. Outside of labs, people are walking into restaurants and bars and exhaling SARS-CoV-2 onto everyone around them.