Did the COVID-19 pandemic begin with a laboratory leak? Controversy rages as scientists and government officials battle to reach an evidence-based answer to that question (1). Whether or not SARS-CoV-2 eluded control, reviews of high-containment laboratory facility operations worldwide are warranted to minimize the risks a future disaster could emerge from one of them (2).
A Conspiracy Theory Hothouse
Whether knowledge acquired through conducting gain-of-function (GOF) experiments to make pathogenic viruses more virulent justifies the potential risks has divided scientists for over a decade (1-3). Unfortunately, the processes used to evaluate GOF research funding proposals and approve release of scientific journal publications produced by that support have been criticized for coverage gaps and lack of transparency (4-6). Rising public apprehensions about research on dangerous viruses combined with long-simmering, public disputes over GOF research oversight emanating from the scientific upper echelons make the area a ripe target for misinformation propagators and conspiracy theorists.
Violating Public Trust
The public trusts that the scientific research we support will be conducted safely and ethically. Scientific research has yielded enormous benefits to society such as novel vaccines able to halt the COVID-19 pandemic produced in record-breaking short time frames. Notwithstanding the spectacular successes in combatting this terrible pandemic, anyone seeking to cast the scientific enterprise in an unfavorable light can mine published articles to find plenty of grist for their personal mills. For example, one researcher conducting GOF work on avian influenza viruses made particularly intemperate statements to a science journalist regarding his intention to publish results without required government approvals (7). Another researcher defied federal regulations to conduct a field experiment using genetically modified bacteria in an action he characterized as a deliberate act of “civil disobedience” (8). Arrogating authority to act contrary to rules and regulations is a superb way to destroy public confidence in scientists.
Clearly, some scientists can be impatient and unreasonable. The D.I.Y. coronavirus vaccine situation (9, 10) offers a more recent and troubling example of ill-considered actions. Groups of scientists convinced they had a solution to the urgent coronavirus pandemic threat, began administering untested and unvalidated vaccine preparations to themselves. These are people who understand the processes of safety and efficacy testing and presumably were cognizant of the risks. In principle, if they used private funding sources and something went awry or the vaccine was simply impotent, they hurt only themselves, so no harm, no foul?
Image Confronts Reality – A Problem of Public Perception
The fact that multiple scientists skipped long-established safety and efficacy testing protocols in the service of their personal fears/needs is a little troubling. We are not talking about one or two rogue actors and that invites questions about just how many scientists might be/are situational rule benders. For example, do most researchers working in high-containment laboratory facilities dutifully follow all the operational rules of conduct or do they cut corners on any they deem inconvenient or view as useless bureaucratic overkill? In the event of laboratory mishap, should we trust them to report what transpired accurately or might they shade the truth? It is unfair to judge all by the actions of a few, but clear that the strange D.I.Y. vaccine situation and its implications provides a ready-made cudgel to bash the entire scientific enterprise.
GOF research and the safety of high-containment laboratory facilities are about to be subjected to intense public scrutiny. Hopefully, the questionable norm-bending actions of frightened or overconfident scientists will not end up shooting all of their colleagues in the foot.

(1) Jorge Casesmeiro Roger. 2021. By Investigating Itself, the US Can Answer Many of the Key COVID19 Origin Questions. Independent Science News, 8 June 2021. https://www.independentsciencenews.org/commentaries/by-investigating-itself-the-us-can-answer-many-of-the-key-covid19-origin-questions/
(2) Laura H. Kahn. 2021. How to Make Biomedical Research (and Biosafety Labs) Less Dangerous and More Ethical, Post-COVID-19. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 8 June 2021. https://thebulletin.org/2021/06/how-to-make-biomedical-research-and-biosafety-labs-less-dangerous-and-more-ethical-post-covid-19/#.YMIkLUqGH7o.twitter
(3) Donald G. McNeil, Jr. A Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses is Lifted. The New York Times, 19 December 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/health/lethal-viruses-nih.html?_r=0
(4) Ed Yong. 2012. Why Did a U.S. Advisory Board Reverse Its Stance on Publishing Mutant Flu Papers? National Geographic, 2 April 2012. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-did-a-us-advisory-board-reverse-its-stance-on-publishing-mutant-flu-papers
(5) Lynn C. Klotz and Gregory D. Koblentz. 2018. New Pathogen Rules: Gain of Function, Loss of Clarity. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 26 February 2018. https://thebulletin.org/2018/02/new-pathogen-research-rules-gain-of-function-loss-of-clarity/
(6) Jocelyn Kaiser. 2020. After Criticism, Federal Officials to Revisit Policy for Reviewing Risky Virus Experiments. Science, 24 January 2020. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/after-criticism-federal-officials-revisit-policy-reviewing-risky-virus-experiments
(7) Declan Butler. 2012. Mutant-Flu Researcher Plans to Publish Even Without Permission. Nature, 17 April 2012. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2012.10469
(8) Keith Schneider. 1987. Tearful Scientist Halts Gene Test. The New York Times, 4 September 1987. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/04/us/tearful-scientist-halts-gene-test.html
(9) Antonio Regalado. 2020. Some Scientists are Taking a DIY Vaccine, and Nobody Knows if it’s Legal or if it Works. MIT Technology Review, 29 July 2020. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/07/29/1005720/george-church-diy-coronavirus-vaccine/
(10) Heather Murphy. 2020. These Scientists Are Giving Themselves D.I.Y. Coronavirus Vaccines. The New York Times, 1 September 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/science/covid-19-vaccine-diy.html
###