[whatshisface]

That blog post makes some giant unsupported assumptions, like that the reason for the failure of a few activists to stop gain-of-function research was that the government is fundamentally bad at addressing risks, and not that biologists might know more about the risk/benefit tradeoff than amateurs.

[ShredKazoo]

Was there even a serious policy discussion of banning gain-of-function research?

Gain of function research is supposed to help with pandemics, right? Did it help with COVID?

[whatshisface]

I don't think I know enough to evaluate the case around gain of function research, all I know is that the blog post didn't make any effort to.

[fidgewidge]

GoF research was banned in the USA for long periods, that's why Fauci was outsourcing it to China and why DARPA refused to find that project.

No, not only has GoF not helped with COVID and probably caused it, but that's also true of the entire field of virology.