A U.S. Department of Defense program requested research proposals for experiments that could make viruses more infectious nearly two years before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Dr. Ralph Baric, a prominent coronavirus researcher. Baric testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in a closed-door interview on April 10.
Baric stated that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) solicited proposals in January 2018 to understand "what drives cross-species jumping" in viruses. He explained that such research, often termed "gain of function," involves experiments that can enhance the potential for pandemic pathogens.
The testimony, made available by Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, addresses research proposals submitted to DARPA's Preventing Emerging Pathogenic Threats (PREEMPT) program. This program aimed to study at least 15 pathogens that could potentially infect U.S. troops abroad, with experiments intended for "controlled" laboratory settings.
One proposal, known as Project DEFUSE, has drawn scrutiny. Submitted by Baric, Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and Dr. Peter Daszak of the now-debarred EcoHealth Alliance, the proposal reportedly included characteristics similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, specifically a furin cleavage site. Baric acknowledged in his testimony that he "hadn't remembered the grant" from 2018. He also noted that Shi and the Wuhan Institute of Virology possessed the technical capability to conduct the proposed work.
Project DEFUSE was ultimately not funded. However, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield suggested at a biosecurity panel in October 2024 that unfunded proposals can sometimes be pursued under other research grants. Baric confirmed that research grants can be fluid and added that "you cannot ever conclusively say that there was not a laboratory leak" as the pandemic's origin due to potentially sub-standard lab conditions. He maintained that a natural origin remained the "most likely" theory.
Baric also testified about private meetings in January and February 2020 where Dr. Anthony Fauci, then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and other top U.S. scientists discussed whether gain-of-function research could have initiated the pandemic. This discussion occurred despite Fauci's subsequent public statements to Congress denying that possibility. According to Baric, Fauci also showed interest in a paper he authored, which stemmed from NIH-funded research and involved "potential gain-of-function related experiments."
EcoHealth Alliance was later barred from receiving U.S. funding until 2030 for failing to provide evidence that its research adhered to the Obama-era pause on gain-of-function research and for not submitting to timely reviews.
Paul has stated his intention to question Fauci about Baric's testimony and his own investigation findings during a public committee hearing, alleging that Fauci "destroyed government records and recommended that other members of government delete emails." Paul asserted that Fauci and other scientists privately believed a lab leak might have occurred but publicly argued against it, while also criticizing the decision to fund such research in China.
Dr. David Morens, a former senior adviser to Fauci, was indicted in April for allegedly concealing and destroying records related to the COVID-19 origins investigation. Some of the research conducted by Shi at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, for a 2015 paper, was not acknowledged until five years later, at the request of Daszak, according to Baric's testimony.