My concern is should we, the US and China, be doing gain of function research at all. This research investigates the possible routes/mutations that viruses can

My concern is should we, the US and China, be doing gain of function research at all. This research investigates the possible routes/mutations that viruses can use to infect a different species. However, the results of this research are new variants of viruses that are capable of jumping from an animal to a human host. Is it possible to handle these new viruses safely, maybe not considering the worldwide devastation that might be released though a mistake in handling these invisible pathogens. I understand that the research does aid our understanding of how a virus might perform the difficult act of jumping between host species in the wild; this is important because it does (rarely) happen on its own. Should we be taking chances by creating zoonotic viruses in light of millions of deaths due to this one (regardless of whether it was a lab mistake or a bat sold at a market).