State of Mankind

First Senate Hearing on Gain of Function Research Since Start of Pandemic

Video

EpochTV Live

Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) are leading the first congressional hearing on gain-of-function research as part of his ongoing efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing is scheduled at 2:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 3. Access the livestream on this page.

The hearing comes amid intensifying Republican scrutiny on whether a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) caused the pandemic, as well as possible U.S. funding ties to the gain-of-function research at the facility. Gain-of-function involves enhancing a virus to make it more potent or transmissible.

Titled “Revisiting Gain-of-Function Research: What the Pandemic Taught Us and Where Do We Go From Here,” the hearing will be held by the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight, of which Hassan and Paul are chair and ranking member respectively.