The funding of Gain of Function Research, which involves rendering dangerous pathogens even more dangerous, was suspended in the US due to leaks from laboratories. The risks of genetically modified viruses, bacteria and other pathogens escaping even high security labs is a pressing concern.
Gain of function research creates genetically modified pathogens that can potentially escape from even the highest security labs, as seen in the multiple leaks that led to a suspension of funding in 2012. This raises questions about the difficulty of determining the origins of pandemics, both old and new.