The Act enshrined into U.S. law the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention Treaty, an international agreement ratified by America and over 100 other nations.
The Biological Weapons Convention Treaty was created in response to the global recognition of the catastrophic potential of bioweapons, exemplified by their development during World War II and subsequent programs by nations such as the United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan.
These agreements sought to prevent the escalation of biological warfare in a post-nuclear age.
Countries that have not signed the treaty include Israel, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Kiribati.
Article I of the international Treaty says that State Parties cannot “develop, produce, stockpile or otherwise acquire or retain microbial or other biological agents, or toxins whatever their origin or method of production.”
The treaty effectively prohibits the production of chemical, bacteriological, or biological weapons (bioweapons) in signatory nations.
Gain-of-function experiments by definition enhance the transmissibility or virulence of a potentially pandemic pathogen, making the product of such experimentation something that could be used as a biological weapon.
For example, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, was the result of gain-of-function research, as affirmed by the FBI, Department of Energy, various U.S. intelligence authorities, and the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic under the House of Representatives Committee On Oversight and Accountability.
Over 1 million Americans were killed by COVID, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Hellbound and Down 