The debate about a motion from the AfD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag on dangerous gain-of-function research was characterized by distortions and denials of the risks of such experiments on the part of other parties. SARS-CoV-2 may have given the world an idea of how easily viruses escape laboratories – and what politicians and profiteers can do with them.
Read the AfD press release below:
Berlin, 11. November 2023. Regarding the debate in the German Bundestag regarding the AfD parliamentary group’s proposal to “ban dangerous areas of application of virus research”, research policy spokesperson, Michael Kaufmann, said:
“There is undoubtedly a major risk from research causing pathogens to become more infectious and/or deadly. The stated objective of our proposal is to stop this threat and eliminate it in the medium term.
It is regrettable that the reaction of other factions to our initiative consisted only of traditional anti-AfD reactions and general insults. The content of our application was deliberately misrepresented. For example, several speakers claimed that the purpose of the proposal was to ban all genetic engineering virus research. This is wrong. The application clearly distinguishes between research on the virus on the one hand, for example to develop medicines, and research that potentially makes the virus more dangerous, on the other hand. The application refers only to the latter.
But the risks associated with this type of research are real, and the consequences of an accident could be catastrophic. The Corona years gave us a foreshadowing of this.
The AfD Parliamentary Group will therefore continue to urge during the deliberations in the Committee to launch a national initiative for greater regulation of this highly dangerous and unnecessary research method.
