To obscure them and decouple them and maybe to keep them in a department which is a black hat fiefdom?

Gain of function research is illegal I believe

Venter cautioned that the creation of artificial human or animal life is a longi way off because the synthetic bacteriophage — the virus that was created — is a much simpler life form. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria.

The project was funded in part by the Department of Energy, which hopes to create microbes that would capture carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, produce hydrogen or clean the environment.

Venter was the head of the human genome map project wasn't he? His knowledge is perfect for bioweapon development.