What happens if an engineered virus escapes the lab?
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Gain-of-function research has paved the way for numerous medical developments, from cancer treatments to effective vaccines. However, the creation of drug-resistant "superbugs" in laboratories (formally known as enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens, or ePPPs) poses certain public health risks if a leak were to occur. Some gain-of-function research strikes additional fears because of its potential applications to bioweapons (referred to as Dual Use Research of Concern, or DURC).
The Biological Weapons Convention, a multilateral disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons, took effect in 1975—and as of 2022, has the compliance of 184 states. Even so, the memory of a 1979 accident in a secret bioweapons facility in the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk keeps the global fear of biological warfare alive. To read more about this historic incident, click here.

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