Through its publications, INSS provides rigorous, forward‑looking research and analysis on critical national security issues that support the joint warfighter and inform Department of War decision‑makers.
Aug. 25, 2026
Preventing Biological Risk Requires More Than Restricting Gain-of-Function Research
Few areas of contemporary biomedical science so vividly illustrate the tension between knowledge as a source of public safety and security, and knowledge as a source of vulnerability as gain-of-function (GoF) research. Much of such work is routine and relatively benign, however, controversy arises when research involving infectious agents could increase properties such as pathogenicity, transmissibility, host range, immune evasion, environmental stability, or resistance to existing countermeasures.