Lawmakers Must Pass 'Risky Research' Bill To Prevent Next Pandemic Authored by Bryce Nickels & Jay Bhattacharya via RealClearPolitics, Who should decide whether scientists are allowed to modify viruses to make them more infectious and deadly to humans? The surprising answer, until now, is that scientists and institutions like the National Institutes of Health, which have a vested interest in funding and conducting such “gain of function” research, have been the ones deciding whether to undertake such experiments.