Overview
- The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released declassified records on Friday that say U.S. funding supported more than 120 biological laboratories in over 30 countries, including about 40 sites in Ukraine.
- ODNI said some listed facilities handled high‑risk pathogens such as anthrax, Ebola, MERS and SARS and that a portion of work was characterized as gain‑of‑function research, a process that alters organisms to change traits like transmissibility.
- Tulsi Gabbard issued guidance ordering increased intelligence collection on overseas labs to map locations, probe clinical trials and tighten oversight under the administration’s May 25, 2025 executive order banning federal funding of certain gain‑of‑function work abroad.
- The files trace many projects to long‑running U.S. efforts such as the Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction/Biological Threat Reduction Program, which aimed to secure Soviet‑era pathogens and build civilian public‑health capacity.
- Reactions split along political and expert lines with some outlets calling the release revelatory while many scientists and analysts say much of the funding and facility information was already public and warn the disclosures could be misread or used in disinformation campaigns.