Dr. Anthony Fauci Being Called to Resign After Report Claims U.S. Funneled Funds to Wuhan Research Through National Institute of Health
Chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden's administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is currently facing calls to resign over a report claiming that the National Institute of Health had funded Wuhan research.
Fauci in May said in his testimony to a Senate committee probing whether the U.S. funded "gain-of-function" research at the WIV that the NIH has not ever and "does not now fund gain of function research" in the Wuhan study.
However, reports found that the NIH issued a "bat coronavirus grant" to a group called the EcoHealth Alliance for $3.1 million, according to The Daily Wire report.
The grant also includes $599,000 that the WIV used in part to identify and alter bat coronaviruses likely to infect humans.
Dr. Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, suggested that Fauci is being "untruthful" in his statement to the Senate.
Many Republicans are already suggesting that the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases should face a full investigation and be totally forthcoming about the NIH and its involvement in funding research at the WIH.
Rep. Jim Jordan suggested that the top infectious disease expert is hiding something, which should be a prompt for an investigation.
Rep. Ronny Jackson said the same sentiments, adding that Fauci should be terminated from his role as a top health advisor to Biden.
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U.S. Funded Wuhan Research?
Ebright said that the documents laid forth made it clear that NIH director Francis Collins and Fauci were untruthful, according to an ANI News report.
EcoHealth's project was renewed for another five years in 2019. However, it was pulled by the Trump administration in April 2020 after the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.
Sen. Rand Paul then asked Fauci if he wanted to retract his May statement as it is a "crime to lie to Congress," according to a BBC News report.
Paul believed that the research qualified as "gain-of-function" research and referred to two academic papers by the Chinese institute.
The said papers were from 2015, which was written with the University of North Carolina, and one from 2017.
Gain-of-function research pertains to when an organism develops new abilities or functions, where it can happen in nature or be achieved in the lab. Scientists can modify the genetic code or place organisms in different environments to alter them in some way.
EcoHealth Alliance and Peter Daszak have been working with Shi Zengli for more than 15 years. Daszak is the head of EcoHealth Alliance in New York City, while Zhengli is a virologist at the WIV, according to a Nature report in August 2020.
The NIH was reported to have asked EcoHealth to obtain a vial of the SARS-CoV-2 sample that was used by the WIV to determine the virus' genetic sequence.
In addition, the agency had also requested that EcoHealth arranges an inspection of the WIV by U.S. federal officials.
Daszak had dubbed the demands from NIH "heinous" and expressed worries that the funding freeze is delaying vital work to identify and prevent the next pandemic.
Meanwhile, the NIH has yet to comment.
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This article is owned by Latin Post
Written by Mary Webber
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