![]() ![]() “Miss out any part of that definition, and it’s not gain of function. Benjamin Neuman, a virologist at Texas A&M University, agreed, though he said Pfizer’s statement is “written in a technical way” that could have been “made clearer for non-science readers.” “To be gain of function, the researcher needs to deliberately make a change, knowing that change makes the virus more dangerous, and the change must be something the virus could not reasonably do on its own,” Neuman wrote in an email. “They might be undertaking virologic research to test the limits of their technologies knowing that through virus evolution some of these changes may occur naturally,” he wrote in an email. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, said nothing in the statement suggests Pfizer is conducting research designed to “weaponize” COVID-19 or “increase its pathogenicity,” as some social media users claim. “We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.” For research related to its antiviral medication Paxlovid, Pfizer said that “most” of the work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of a non-infectious part of the virus. “This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern,” the company said. But the company said no such things in its statement, stressing that its vaccine-related experiments are undertaken only after a new variant has been identified by public health authorities. In the case of a virus such as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, that could involve making it more harmful, or giving it the ability to transmit to other species. Gain of function refers to scientific experiments that give an organism a new property or enhances an existing one. 27 by Pfizer in response to allegations it was conducting risky “gain of function” research triggered another round of false speculation against one of the top makers of COVID vaccines. THE FACTS: Experts said nothing in a recent statement by the company suggests it’s conducting research designed to make COVID-19 more harmful, as some social media users claim. Hats were banned in the lower chamber in 1837.ĬLAIM: Pfizer has acknowledged in a statement it conducted “gain of function” research as part of its development of a vaccine and a separate medical treatment for COVID-19. Wilson said the Democrat “has received nothing but support and encouragement from all of his colleagues and leaders on both sides of the aisle.” Mark Bednar, a spokesperson for McCarthy, said the House speaker had not told Raskin to remove his head covering. Caygle declined further comment when reached by email. According to Caygle’s tweet, he was asked “what he would do if Republicans made him take off his headwear on the House floor.” Caygle clarified in a follow-up tweet that Raskin said no House Republicans have spoken to him about hat rules. Jacob Wilson, a spokesperson for Raskin, told the AP in an email that Raskin “was responding lightheartedly to a hypothetical question from a colleague” at the caucus meeting. ![]() “And I will make them take off their toupees,” Caygle quoted Raskin as saying. In a Tuesday tweet, Punchbowl News reporter Heather Caygle wrote that Raskin had received a standing ovation in a House Democratic Caucus meeting after saying he’d push back on Republican efforts to make him remove his headwear. “You would think they would have compassion for a colleague with cancer but they are monsters.” But Republicans have not imposed such a rule, and the false claim grew from a misunderstanding. “Kevin McCarthy has insisted Jamie Raskin remove the headscarf he is wearing because chemotherapy has caused his hair to fall out,” wrote one Twitter user in a tweet with 34,000 likes, referring to the Republican House speaker. But as the new Republican House majority takes control, confusion over a joke Raskin made about House rules governing headgear fueled a false rumor on social media. ![]() Raskin, who announced he’d been diagnosed with lymphoma last year, attended the year’s first House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday wearing a bandana. THE FACTS: Republicans have made no such request and have in fact been nothing but supportive, a spokesperson for Raskin told the AP. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, to remove the headwear he’s donned on the House floor while undergoing chemotherapy. CLAIM: House Republicans are requiring Rep. ![]()
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