This is why it actually matters to try to figure out if the lab leak is the most probably cause, taking into account adverse interference based on the Chinese government's massive destruction of evidence. If the lab leak was the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic, then it is very reasonable to shut down related programs.
Airplanes had far far fewer deaths for the aerospace industry to reach current safety regulations and requirements.
Given that, the regulations and requirements when dealing with pathogens should increase accordingly to match the potential damage.
There are other types of research on viruses, zoonotic virus reservoirs, all sorts of topics that don't involve intentionally making a sample more and more contagious or deadly.
Obama also instituted a moratorium on US federal funding for this class of research during his tenure. This is a bipartisan issue. Nothing controversial for anyone other than grant recipients who need this money to keep their business afloat.
Life belongs to those who learn proper fear prioritization.
So not:
"Scientists working in this field might say—as indeed I have said—that the benefits of such experiments and the resulting knowledge outweigh the risks."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484390/
(Of course, common sense would say that if you're not willing to do this in your own backyard, you probably shouldn't let people with laxer standards and do it in theirs)
The gist is the program was designed to find potential viruses, then share them openly so countries without resources for this research could still prepare for future viruses. Obviously, open access to recipes for pandemic-grade viruses means they could also be used for nefarious means.
It's worth listening to the analysis as Rob Reid is an excellent interviewer and Kevin Esvelt is an expert in the field (he's at the forefront of gene drives).
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr28XeVYm8U
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5qWiCan9lAMnVrWqzpdHoI?si=0...
