Dr. Ralph Baric, a prominent virologist, testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sought proposals for gain-of-function research in January 2018. This type of research, which involves manipulating pathogens to enhance their transmissibility or lethality, has been a focal point in discussions about the origins of COVID-19. Baric indicated that a project he submitted, which would have included work in Wuhan, China, could have led to the creation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.
Senator Rand Paul, who chairs the committee, has prioritized investigating the U.S. government's involvement in funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. On July 23, 2026, Paul released a 154-page transcript of Baric's interview ahead of a scheduled hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Baric explained that the DARPA request aimed to understand cross-species virus transmission, emphasizing the role of gain-of-function experiments in such research. While Fauci and other health officials argue that these experiments can be conducted safely and are beneficial for vaccine development, critics, including Paul, contend that there are no civilian applications for this type of research.
Baric was involved in the DEFUSE project, which aimed to modify a bat coronavirus to create a virus similar to SARS-CoV-2. Although DARPA did not fund this project due to security concerns, Baric noted that it could have been executed independently at the Wuhan lab. He stated that he has not dismissed the possibility of a lab leak, given the lower safety standards at the Wuhan facility compared to his own lab at the University of North Carolina, but he believes it is more likely the virus originated from an animal.
Additional documents released by Paul and former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard suggest that Fauci advised intelligence officials to consult Baric and others who dismissed the lab leak theory during the early pandemic response. Paul plans to question Fauci about his efforts to promote Baric's work to the national security community while downplaying the lab leak hypothesis.