In a 2012 commentary published by the American Society for Microbiology, Anthony Fauci wrote that a "moratorium on gain-of-function research" for a "highly pathogenic" influenza virus "should continue" until certain conditions are met, but "scientists working in this field might say - as indeed I have said - that the benefits of such experiments and the resulting knowledge outweigh the risks." He added, "It is more likely that a pandemic would occur in nature, and the need to stay ahead of such a threat is a primary reason for performing an experiment that might appear to be risky." During a federal "gain-of-function research funding pause," Fauci funded such experiments on "bat coronaviruses" in the lead-up to the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Institutes of Health, where Fauci worked, claims that this research "could not have been the source of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus." Recently released emails prove that Fauci suppressed scientific evidence indicating the virus came from a lab.