America’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has claimed that America had given funding to more than 120 biological labs (biolabs) present in more than 30 countries of the world. Based on recently declassified documents made public, he said that research on many dangerous pathogens was conducted in these laboratories, including alleged gain-of-function research. After this revelation, the Trump administration has decided to end federal funding for such research.

Claims American funding in more than 30 countries
According to information released by ODNI, America had given financial assistance to more than 120 biolabs in more than 30 countries. It has been claimed that many of these labs were doing research on dangerous and rapidly spreading pathogens and their monitoring was not adequate.

Ukraine’s labs were also mentioned
Declassified documents say that more than 40 Ukrainian laboratories were working on pathogens linked to Soviet-era biological weapons. These include particularly dangerous pathogens such as anthrax, Ebola, MERS, SARS and plague.

Accusations against former administration and health officials
Tulsi Gabbard alleged that previous governments, some health officials and people in the national security apparatus did not tell the entire truth about the existence of these biolabs to the American public. He also said that attempts were made to suppress those who raised this issue.

Trump administration bans funding
Following these claims, President Donald Trump has decided to end US federal funding for gain-of-function research. The administration says that such research can pose a serious threat to global health security.

Surveillance will increase on labs located abroad
Tulsi Gabbard has instructed American intelligence agencies to collect information about these laboratories located abroad, the pathogens kept there and the ongoing research work. According to him, preliminary investigation has revealed some such clinical trials which raise serious concerns in terms of ethical, financial and security.