HHS Funds Gain-of-Function Influenza–COVID 'Frankenvirus' Combining Influenza Entry Machinery With SARS-CoV-2 Human Cell–Binding Domain HHS-backed research produced chimeric influenza viruses carrying SARS-CoV-2’s ACE2-binding interface—introducing a higher-affinity human receptor-binding mechanism into an influenza pathogen.
HHS Funds Gain-of-Function Influenza–COVID 'Frankenvirus' Combining Influenza Entry Machinery With SARS-CoV-2 Human Cell–Binding Domain HHS-backed research produced chimeric influenza viruses carrying SARS-CoV-2’s ACE2-binding interface—introducing a higher-affinity human receptor-binding mechanism into an influenza pathogen. Jon Fleetwood HHS-funded researchers are claiming to have engineered influenza-based chimeric “Frankenstein” viruses that combine influenza’s hemagglutinin (HA) with the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)—a high-affinity human ACE2-binding interface. Introducing a fundamentally different and stronger human cell–binding mechanism into an influenza viral system is a modification that fits longstanding U.S. gain-of-function definitions involving altered receptor usage and host range. A December 2025 bioRxiv preprint confirms the work, supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—an agency within the U.S. Department ...