A lab-leak proponent is in line for Fauci's old job - POLITICO
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A lab-leak proponent is set to inherit Fauci's old role — putting someone who believes COVID originated in a Wuhan lab at the helm of U.S. infectious disease policy.
Principal-Agent ProblemRegulatory CaptureConflict of InterestKuhnian Paradigm Shift
Theory Briefing
- The candidate supports the lab-leak theory, which holds that EcoHealth and the Wuhan lab were running gain-of-function research that may have sparked COVID-19.
- Gain-of-function research — enhancing viruses to study them — sits at the center of the debate, with critics calling it reckless and defenders calling it essential.
- Placing a lab-leak proponent in the top U.S. infectious disease post signals a potential shift in how the government officially frames COVID's origins.
- The appointment raises questions about whether institutional consensus on pandemic origins can be separated from the politics of who holds the office.