Trump signs order restricting research that enhances pathogens

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that bans federal funding for gain-of-function research that typically enhances pathogens.

The order also paused any research using "infectious pathogens and toxins in the United States" that could be dangerous to citizens "until a safer, more enforceable, and transparent policy governing such research can be developed and implemented," according to a fact sheet released by the White House.

The ban on federal funding of gain-of-function research applies to China and Iran, among other countries, the White House said. Gain-of-function research studies enhancements to pathogens such as Avian influenza, SARS and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS viruses.

The measure is designed to "drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology," according to the White House factsheet.

The U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy and the national security adviser will be tasked with developing new standards, according to the White House.

Fox News first reported on the planned executive order.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Kanishka Singh in Washington, Editing by Franklin Paul and Stephen Coates)

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