Cathy McMorris Rodgers - the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee | Official U.S. House headshot
Cathy McMorris Rodgers - the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee | Official U.S. House headshot
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Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans are pressing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide the files of all SARS-CoV-2 submissions to GenBank prior to January 10, 2020. This request comes after the revelation of the earliest known SARS-CoV-2 sequence released outside of China, raising concerns about transparency regarding the origins of COVID-19.
Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) have expressed their concerns in a letter to NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli. In the letter, they highlighted their dismay at the NIH receiving genetic code for SARS-CoV-2 before it was publicly disclosed, indicating a potential lack of awareness within the NIH regarding this critical information.
Chair Rodgers emphasized, "We were dismayed to learn that the NIH had received eight pages of genetic code and a nearly complete version of the genetic sequence for SARS-CoV-2, almost two weeks before the sequence was made public."
Chair Guthrie pointed out the possibility of unposted early versions of the SARS-CoV-2 sequence, stating, "The circumstances suggest the possibility that there may be other early versions of the SARS CoV-2 sequence that were submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI’s) Genbank but were not posted."
Chair Griffith underscored the importance of conducting further due diligence to uncover any additional submissions, noting, "Since such potential submissions could provide clues about the timing of the pandemic and how SARS CoV-2 was evolving at the beginning of the pandemic, there is a strong public interest to conduct further due diligence to check GenBank for such submissions."
The Energy and Commerce Committee's ongoing investigation into the origins of COVID-19 has led to this call for transparency and disclosure of early SARS-CoV-2 sequences. The Committee aims to gather all available information to shed light on the timeline and evolution of the virus at the onset of the pandemic.
For more information, the Energy and Commerce Committee can be contacted at Main: (202) 225-3641 or Press: (202) 226-4972.
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