CSU to Build taxpayer-Funded Facility for Bat Breeding and Research

Stationed in the Foothills of Northern Colorado, a taxpayer-funded bat breeding ground is in the works. Maintained by Colorado State University, unprecedented bat colonies will serve as a national resource for virus research. 

The project, expected to be completed by 2025, could advance scientific knowledge of virus cures and prevention. However, many are concerned about accidental exposures and ecological issues. Does the risk outweigh the reward? 

“Not only is it a cruel waste of tax dollars, because there’s no evidence that this type of experimentation at CSU or anywhere else has prevented a pandemic or stopped a pandemic from spreading,” Justin Goodman, the senior vice president of advocacy and public policy at the watchdog group White Coat Waste said.”It’s a gift.” 

In 2021, CSU published an article announcing that it received a grant from the National Institutes of Health, a taxpayer-funded medical research agency. The grant, totaling $6.7 million, was awarded to CSU because of the university’s experience with animals carrying pathogens that can harm humans. 

When asked to comment on the situation, CSU directed Yellow Scene to their FAQ page. On its site, CSU says the goal is to discover why bats often get infected with viruses but do not get sick. 

“They are not going to be infected with viruses at Colorado State, but rather be shipped elsewhere in the country where the hazardous work would be performed,” Bryce Nickels, a researcher in the Department of Genetics at Rutgers University, said. 

In addition to his research, Nickels works with BioSafety Now, an organization demanding restrictions on potential pandemic pathogen research. He is also involved with White Coat Waste.  According to the NIH’s project description, bat models are ‘critical’ to understanding viral pathogenesis and disease transmission.

On-site research

There is speculation that CSU will research deadly viruses on-site, such as Ebola and the NEPA virus, but the college denies these claims. CSU’s website clarifies that only Biosafety Level 2 research will occur in the facility. BSL-2 labs work with infectious organisms that can make people sick if released but are easily treatable. 

CSU details examples of the curable BSL-2 agents. Included are Strep Throat and Salmonella. 

Risky experiments won’t occur at CSU but may be conducted elsewhere. The bats or their tissue may be transported to higher-level labs, including BSL-3 and BSL-4. 

Research can include fatal infections if bats are transported to one of the few U.S. BSL-4 facilities. The CDC cites Ebola and Marburg Virus as examples. If deadly viruses are unintendedly released, the world could face another pandemic. 

Boulder concerns 

Residents of nearby cities such as Boulder voice their concerns on the community-centered website Nextdoor. Some users share their worries, while others argue there is nothing to fear. 

“Infectious disease research has been going on in Colorado since before WWII,” Glenn M., a Nextdoor user, commented on a concerned post. “My advice is, do independent verified fact-based research at your library on/offline, and don’t listen to neighbor gossip or conspiracy theorists spreading half-baked hearsay hype.”

How is Boulder County Public Health prepared for a potential outbreak? They declined to comment on the CSU Lab, but they shared information in an email about their own research and preparation for animal-borne disease outbreaks. 

The BCPH Consumer Protection Program Coordinator, Lane Drager, gave examples of how BCPH protects the public from outbreaks. BCPH works with animal control agencies, informs the community of risks to help prevent exposures, and has an infectious disease program that investigates reported illnesses. 

“Researching animal-borne diseases and their hosts is important because they are a source of morbidity and mortality,” Drager said. 

As part of outbreak prevention, BCPH occasionally studies Boulder’s native bat population. Research is not conducted on wild animals but only on those that have come in contact with humans or pets. At BCPH, researching bats always involves euthanization. 

“Testing involves analyzing brain tissue, so there isn’t a way to test without euthanizing the animal,” Drager said. 

The ethics of animal testing

Bat testing brings ethics into question. Since testing can involve euthanization or discomfort for animals, activists and organizations such as PETA are against it. 

“We’re taking a sentient and wonderful animal and doing very bad things to it, to a whole species when we should be celebrating them,” said Kate Myers, a Boulder resident who has dedicated her career to animal activism. 

Myers thinks the bat lab will be a ‘nightmare’ and lead to CSU’s monetary gain. She feels researchers will lose many bats as a result of ‘terrorizing them.’ She shared that it is wrong to remove an animal from its natural environment.

Through email communication, a spokesperson for CSU told Yellow Scene that the original bats will come from Bangladesh. “The bats themselves are not native to the U.S., so even bringing them into the US is problematic,” Nickels said. 

After the initial bats are transported, non-native bat species will breed in containment. However, if non-native bats escape, they can become invasive. Invasive species, such as foreign bats, can cause harm to native animals in any area. The National Invasive Species Center said that resource competition and habitat alteration by invasive species can cause a decline in native animals.

“Unfortunately, there are bad viruses out there, but I think the human race is the worst virus imaginable,” Myers said. “I don’t have a lot of hope because I’ve been fighting these things forever.” 

With many proposed risks, the future of the bat lab is still being determined. At the beginning of the project, CSU agreed to work with EcoHealth Alliance, an organization with potential links to COVID-19 origins. Echohealth’s federal funding has been suspended, and CSU is no longer collaborating with them. The university still has funding from the NIH, and the project is expected to progress. 

“If you think that all knowledge is valuable and what you’re doing is going to save the world, you will not want other people to meddle with it,” Nickels said. “ At the same time, maybe your judgment is slightly skewed, and it should be subject to some regulation and oversight.”