The National Institutes of Health has ordered an advisory committee to conduct a broad review of federal policies for experiments that involve potentially dangerous pathogens, The Washington Post reported March 1.
The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity will perform the review, which NIH says is unrelated to the ongoing debate over the pandemic's origins. One theory is that the virus accidentally leaked from a laboratory in China, though a mounting body of evidence suggests the virus likely originated from live animals sold at a market in Wuhan.
Based on the review, the advisory committee will develop recommendations for NIH on which experiments will require special safety measures and which are too dangerous to perform.
"This is an appropriate time for us to undertake and ensure that our policies are allowing potential benefits of research while managing potential risks," Lyric Jorgenson, PhD, acting associate director for science policy at NIH, told the Post. "This is around definitions of what should be in and what should be out."
NIH said it hopes to have the new recommendations by the end of 2022.
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