January 1, Newly released documents show Fauci ‘untruthful’ about Wuhan lab research, critics say

A 900-page trove of newly released documents provides insight into the US-funded research on coronaviruses at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. The documents appear to contradict Dr. Anthony Fauci’s claims that the National Institutes of Health did not fund gain-of-function research at the lab.

Among the 900 pages was a proposal for a project “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence,” which involved screening thousands of samples from bats and people who worked with animals for novel coronaviruses.

The proposal acknowledged the risks posed by the research.

“Fieldwork involves the highest risk of exposure to SARS or other CoVs, while working in caves with high bat density overhead and the potential for fecal dust to be inhaled.”

The project was awarded a $3.1 million grant between 2014 and 2019, $599,000 of which went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

“The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful,” Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, said via Twitter.

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Wuhan lab documents show Fauci ‘untruthful’ about gain-of-function research: critics