학술논문
Virology under the Microscope—a Call for Rational Discourse
Document Type
article
Author
Felicia Goodrum; Anice C. Lowen; Seema Lakdawala; James Alwine; Arturo Casadevall; Michael J. Imperiale; Walter Atwood; Daphne Avgousti; Joel Baines; Bruce Banfield; Lawrence Banks; Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh; Deepta Bhattacharya; Daniel Blanco-Melo; David Bloom; Adrianus Boon; Steeve Boulant; Curtis Brandt; Andrew Broadbent; Christopher Brooke; Craig Cameron; Samuel Campos; Patrizia Caposio; Gary Chan; Anna Cliffe; John Coffin; Kathleen Collins; Blossom Damania; Matthew Daugherty; Kari Debbink; James DeCaprio; Terence Dermody; Jimmy Dikeakos; Daniel DiMaio; Rhoel Dinglasan; W. Paul Duprex; Rebecca Dutch; Nels Elde; Michael Emerman; Lynn Enquist; Bentley Fane; Ana Fernandez-Sesma; Michelle Flenniken; Lori Frappier; Matthew Frieman; Klaus Frueh; Michaela Gack; Marta Gaglia; Tom Gallagher; Denise Galloway; Adolfo García-Sastre; Adam Geballe; Britt Glaunsinger; Stephen Goff; Alexander Greninger; Meaghan Hancock; Eva Harris; Nicholas Heaton; Mark Heise; Ekaterina Heldwein; Brenda Hogue; Stacy Horner; Edward Hutchinson; Joseph Hyser; William Jackson; Robert Kalejta; Jeremy Kamil; Stephanie Karst; Frank Kirchhoff; David Knipe; Timothy Kowalik; Michael Lagunoff; Laimonis Laimins; Ryan Langlois; Adam Lauring; Benhur Lee; David Leib; Shan-Lu Liu; Richard Longnecker; Carolina Lopez; Micah Luftig; Jennifer Lund; Balaji Manicassamy; Grant McFadden; Michael McIntosh; Andrew Mehle; W. Allen Miller; Ian Mohr; Cary Moody; Nathaniel Moorman; Anne Moscona; Bryan Mounce; Joshua Munger; Karl Münger; Eain Murphy; Mojgan Naghavi; Jay Nelson; Christopher Neufeldt; Janko Nikolich; Christine O'Connor; Akira Ono; Walter Orenstein; David Ornelles; Jing-hsiung Ou; John Parker; Colin Parrish; Andrew Pekosz; Philip Pellett; Julie Pfeiffer; Richard Plemper; Stephen Polyak; John Purdy; Dohun Pyeon; Miguel Quinones-Mateu; Rolf Renne; Charles Rice; John Schoggins; Richard Roller; Charles Russell; Rozanne Sandri-Goldin; Martin Sapp; Luis Schang; Scott Schmid; Stacey Schultz-Cherry; Bert Semler; Thomas Shenk; Guido Silvestri; Viviana Simon; Gregory Smith; Jason Smith; Katherine Spindler; Megan Stanifer; Kanta Subbarao; Wesley Sundquist; Mehul Suthar; Troy Sutton; Andrew Tai; Vera Tarakanova; Benjamin tenOever; Scott Tibbetts; Stephen Tompkins; Zsolt Toth; Koenraad van Doorslaer; Marco Vignuzzi; Nicholas Wallace; Derek Walsh; Michael Weekes; Jason Weinberg; Matthew Weitzman; Sandra Weller; Sean Whelan; Elizabeth White; Bryan Williams; Christiane Wobus; Scott Wong; Andrew Yurochko
Source
mSphere, Vol 8, Iss 2 (2023)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
2379-5042
Abstract
ABSTRACT Viruses have brought humanity many challenges: respiratory infection, cancer, neurological impairment and immunosuppression to name a few. Virology research over the last 60+ years has responded to reduce this disease burden with vaccines and antivirals. Despite this long history, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented attention to the field of virology. Some of this attention is focused on concern about the safe conduct of research with human pathogens. A small but vocal group of individuals has seized upon these concerns – conflating legitimate questions about safely conducting virus-related research with uncertainties over the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The result has fueled public confusion and, in many instances, ill-informed condemnation of virology. With this article, we seek to promote a return to rational discourse. We explain the use of gain-of-function approaches in science, discuss the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 and outline current regulatory structures that provide oversight for virological research in the United States. By offering our expertise, we – a broad group of working virologists – seek to aid policy makers in navigating these controversial issues. Balanced, evidence-based discourse is essential to addressing public concern while maintaining and expanding much-needed research in virology.