Published 3 days ago
10 reasons why scientists believe coronavirus originated from lab in Wuhan, China
Origin of COVID-19 has not been determined two years into the deadly pandemic, but lab-leak theory is no longer widely dismissed
Marisa SchultzBy Marisa Schultz | Fox News
...
"When you evaluate the two theories, it is so overwhelmingly in favor of the lab leak that everything else is just incidental evidence about the details of what happened," said Richard Muller, emeritus professor of physics at the University of California Berkeley, who has been a strong advocate for the lab-leak theory.
...
1) No animals have been found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2
...
"They tested an unprecedented 80,000 animals covering 209 species, including wild, domestic and market animals … and they found no infections in animals," Muller, the professor emeritus, told Fox News Digital.
...
2) No evidence of pre-epidemic infections
During past coronavirus epidemics, such as SARS in 2003 and MERS in 2013, there was evidence of extensive human infection from animals prior to the virus mutating to become transmissible between humans and sparking the pandemic, Muller said.
Investigators tested more than 9,000 human biological samples – including blood, plasma and throat swabs – that were stored at hospitals and blood banks prior to the pandemic, Muller said, citing data from the WHO report.
It was expected that between 100 and 400 would be positive for SARS-CoV-2, based on the natural outbreak experiences with SARS and MERS, Muller said. But in this case, zero tested positive.
...
3) The genetic fingerprint of the virus is so unique it has never been observed in a natural coronavirus
...
Since 1992, in gain-of-function research experiments, laboratories have inserted furin sites into viruses repeatedly, Quay said. The end result is supercharged, more infectious viruses, he said.
"These gene jockeys have put in a furin site into a virus that didn't have one in the laboratory," Quay told Fox News Digital. "Eleven out of 11 times it makes it more effective, more transmissible, more lethal -- all the bad things you'd want. So if you want to juice up a virus and make it more infective or make it go from bats to humans, putting in a furin cleavage site is a great idea."
...
4) The virus appeared in humans already "optimized" into an extremely contagious version
Based on SARS1 and MERS experiences, when the virus becomes capable of human-to-human transmission, it takes weeks to evolve as it spreads through the population and the most contagious forms of the virus dominated. But with COVID-19, the virus was pre-adapted for human-to-human transmission from the first patient, Quay says. Specifically, he said, the part of the virus that interacts with human cells was 99.5% optimized.
...
5) The Wuhan Institute of Virology studies bat coronaviruses and has engaged in "gain-of-function" research
The Wuhan Institute of Virology in China studies bat coronaviruses and their potential to infect humans. It has also engaged with so-called "gain of function" experiments, according to the State Department, so it was natural to consider whether a bat-related coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan came from the lab.
"Every informed person, every person in the field of virology, every person in the field of biosafety and biosecurity in January was thinking lab release," Richard Ebright, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University, told Fox News Digital.
...
6) China has not cooperated and investigators have not had full access to the lab, data
...
The WIV "has not been transparent" about its record of studying viruses most similar to the COVID-19 virus, including "RaTG13," which it sampled from a cave in Yunnan Province in 2013 after several miners died of SARS-like illness, according to the State Department.
The bat virus databases managed by the Wuhan Institute of Virology have went offline, hidden from scrutiny.
...
7) Lab leaks are not uncommon, so they should not have been dismissed so quickly at the onset of the pandemic
...
"These viruses are always waiting to infect you," Quay said of lab research. "You only have to make a mistake for five minutes after a 20-year career and, you know, you've got it."
...
8) Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were sick just prior to the community outbreak
The State Department revealed in January 2021 that the "U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses."
"This raises questions about the credibility of WIV senior researcher Shi Zhengli’s public claim that there was ‘zero infection’ among the WIV’s staff and students of SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related viruses," according to the State Department report released in the final days of the Trump Administration.
...
9) The Wuhan Institute of Virology has conducted "secret" research projects with the Chinese military
The U.S State Department revealed on Jan. 15, 2021, that the Wuhan Institute of Virology has collaborated on "secret projects" with China’s military and warned that the country has a history of biological weapons work that Beijing has not "demonstrably eliminated."
...
10) There was an "orchestrated effort" by NIH officials and others to quickly shut down the lab-leak theory
...
"There was an orchestrated effort at the start of 2020 to establish and enforce a false narrative about the origin," Ebright, the Rutgers professor, told Fox News Digital. "Every informed person understood at the start of 2020, that there were two scenarios on the table that both required investigations.
"Those who had been involved in these high-risk research activities, and in particular, those who had funded these high-risk research activities through EcoHealth Alliance in Wuhan sought immediately to clamp down on the discussion and enforce the false narrative that science tells us the virus entered humans [through] natural spillover, and furthermore, that it is the consensus of scientists. Both of those statements were false."
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Discussion: Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Wuhan has been working with bats and coronavirus for many years - DNA manipulations, cloning....
Collapse
X
-
Was SARS-CoV-2 made in a lab? Was it active prior to December of 2019? Is Omicron older than the Wuhan strain?
Covid-18, Omicron and Some Things That Need Explaining
Was SARS-CoV-2 made in a lab? Was it active prior to December of 2019? Is Omicron older than the Wuhan strain?
Feb 11 People want to understand some of the hypotheses about the origins of SARS-CoV-2. However, any discussion about Covid ultimately involves genetics, virology and many other scientific fields. So it can get complicated quickly.
My objective here is to provide a framework that allows for the average person to understand one of the key Covid hypotheses: that SARS-CoV-2 was created in a lab PRIOR to 2019.
I will try to stay high-level and provide links to much more detailed information. Towards the end I will try to synthesize a bit and even offer my own opinions based on my observations...
Leave a comment:
-
Source: https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/m...ak-controversy
February 10, 2022
Meet the Scientist at the Center of the Covid Lab Leak Controversy
Author: Jane Qiu
Grantee
On a foggy morning in early February last year, dozens of journalists from around the world gathered outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Some walked around to find the best camera position; others climbed a ladder to peer into the fenced-off compound, its tall red-brick buildings hidden behind a thick mist. Security guards in blue uniforms lined the winding driveway leading to the entrance.
The crowd was gathered because a team of international disease detectives selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) to hunt for the origins of covid-19 was on its way to visit.
“They will be here in a minute,” a journalist working for Japan’s Tokyo Broadcasting System Television said after checking her phone. Her voice was brisk and slightly shaken; her eyes sparkled with nervous excitement. “My colleagues just told me. They’re chasing the WHO cars.”
Soon enough, the motorcade burst through the fog. As it approached the institute’s main gate, a journalist in a blue down jacket and white face mask sprinted alongside as if he were running for his life, pointing a video camera toward the cars, his rucksack bouncing up and down on his back. A dozen photographers flocked to the lead car, pushing against one another and forcing the convoy to a stop. The guards tried herding them away to get the cars moving again. “Comments, please!” several journalists shouted.
Inside the car, Peter Daszak—a disease ecologist and president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit that works with scientists around the world to study viruses in wildlife—was filming the scene on his cell phone.
He was a member of the WHO team, and when we’d spoken the week before, he'd cautioned that the Wuhan trip was just a first step in trying to figure out where covid-19 came from. “It can take years or even decades to find the cause of a new infectious disease,” said Daszak, who has collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology for more than 15 years and is now himself caught up in the debate over the disease’s origins. “Sometimes we just never know.”
But the world wanted quick answers...
Leave a comment:
-
https://www.fetalindustry.com/post/s...ina-and-the-us
Julie Collorafi
Nov 30, 2021
Saskatoon's BLT-L Mouse Program: A Web of Intrigue Involving Canada, China and the US
Updated: Dec 7, 2021
Julie Collorafi
Jan 31
Decoding the Top-Secret "Human Lung Mice" Discussions in the Fauci Emails
Updated: Feb 1
Bat viruses, bat virus researchers, and “humanized” mice. Why are these subjects off-limits to the public in the Fauci emails? What are they hiding under the black boxes of redacted text?
Thousands of pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci's emails were obtained via FOIA request by BuzzFeed News staff and released to the public. One email chain of interest was about "SARS-CoV2 in humanized mice" with a related chain concerning "Human lung mice."...
See also:
PLA coronavirus researcher who died under suspicious circumstances linked to US university where lab rats died of SARS-CoV-2-like virus beginning in November 2019
Leave a comment:
-
hat tip Shiloh
Host genomes for the unique SARS-CoV-2 variant leaked into Antarctic soil metagenomic sequencing data
Istvan Csabai
ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9232-9898
Norbert Solymosi
University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1783-2041
DOI:
10.21203/rs.3.rs-1330800/v1
Download PDF
LICENSE:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Abstract
Recently Csabai et al.1 have found a most likely contaminated metagenomic sample set from Antarctica that contained traces of unique SARS-CoV-2 variants. This is a short followup of that report where we attempt to find genetic footprint of the hosts. With reasonable confidence we could identify genetic material from mitochondria of Homo sapiens, green monkey and Chinese hamster. The latter two most probably originated from cell lines Vero E6 (or COS-7) and CHO respectively, which are frequent laboratory culture media for studying viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and its closest relatives.
Recently Csabai et al.1 have found a most likely contaminated metagenomic sample set from Antarctica that contained traces of unique SARS-CoV-2 variants. This is a short followup of that report where we attempt to find genetic footprint of the hosts. With reasonable confidence we could identif...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
I'd like to add my preliminary thoughts on a new pre-print by Istvan Csabai & Norbert Solymosi that is receiving a lot of attention because of speculation it might contain new data relevant to origins or early spread of #SARSCoV2 in China: https://researchsquare.com/article/rs-1330800/v1… (1/n)
researchsquare.com
Host genomes for the unique SARS-CoV-2 variant leaked into Antarctic soil metagenomic sequencing...
Recently Csabai et al.1 have found a most likely contaminated metagenomic sample set from Antarctica that contained traces of unique SARS-CoV-2 variants. This is a short followup of that report where...
1:27 AM · Feb 9, 2022·Twitter Web App
233
Retweets
68
Quote Tweets
568
Likes
Reply
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Replying to
@jbloom_lab
This is actually second pre-print by these authors on topic. I initially heard about first pre-print on Dec-23-2021 from
@carlzimmer
, who had noticed it: https://researchsquare.com/article/rs-1177047/v1… (2/n)
researchsquare.com
Unique SARS-CoV-2 variant found in public sequence data of Antarctic soil samples collected in...
The COVID-19 pandemic has been going on for two years now and although many hypotheses have been put forward, its origin remain obscure. We investigated whether the huge public sequencing data...
3
19
77
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
That first pre-print describes analysis of metagenomic samples collected in Antarctica in 2018-2019 that were subsequently sequenced and found to contain #SARSCoV2 reads. The pre-print suggests these might by early #SARSCoV2 reads based on the mutations they contain. (3/n)
2
24
78
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
After hearing about the pre-print from
@carlzimmer
, I downloaded the samples and performed the analyses myself. A GitHub repo with my computer code, results, and notes about the analysis / timeline is available here: https://github.com/jbloom/PRJNA692319_public… (4/n)
github.com
GitHub - jbloom/PRJNA692319_public: Analysis of Antarctica sequencing samples contaminated with...
Analysis of Antarctica sequencing samples contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 - GitHub - jbloom/PRJNA692319_public: Analysis of Antarctica sequencing samples contaminated with SARS-CoV-2
4
18
103
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
My analysis confirmed main findings of first pre-print: some samples did contain #SARSCoV2 reads, with most reads in 3 of 11 samples. In addition, some reads contained three key mutations: C8782T, C18060T, and T28144C, although there is clearly a mixed viral population. (5/n)
1
23
102
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Those three mutations are intriguing because they are all "ancestral" mutations that move the sequence *closer* to the bat CoV relatives RaTG13 and BANAL-20-52 relative to first reported Wuhan-Hu-1 sequence from the Huanan Seafood Market. (6/n)
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
A virus with those three mutations relative to Wuhan-Hu-1 is one of the two plausible progenitors for all currently known human #SARSCoV2 (the other plausible progenitor has C29095T rather than C18060T). See https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/12/5211/6353034… and https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/8/3046/6257226… (7/n)
academic.oup.com
Evolutionary Portrait of the Progenitor SARS-CoV-2 and Its Dominant Offshoots in COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract. Global sequencing of genomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has continued to reveal new genetic variants that are the
2
28
93
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
This fact suggests that some sequencing reads come from a virus genetically ancestral to the known sequences from the Huanan Seafood Market, although the stochastic nature of viral mutations means that a more genetically ancestral sequence is not always temporally earlier. (8/n)
3
17
91
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
In early January, I was contacted by lead author of pre-print, Istvan Csabai. He reached out because the three samples with most #SARSCoV2 reads had just been deleted from
@NIH
's Sequence Read Archive, reminding him of my paper on deleted sequences: https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/12/5211/6353034… (9/n)
academic.oup.com
Recovery of Deleted Deep Sequencing Data Sheds More Light on the Early Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic
Abstract. The origin and early spread of SARS-CoV-2 remains shrouded in mystery. Here, I identify a data set containing SARS-CoV-2 sequences from early in the W
1
48
140
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
I confirmed the sequences had been deleted, and archived weblinks showing the original, deleted, and then subsequently restored (see below) pages for the samples are linked in the README in the GitHub repo I created: https://github.com/jbloom/PRJNA692319_public… (10/n)
github.com
GitHub - jbloom/PRJNA692319_public: Analysis of Antarctica sequencing samples contaminated with...
Analysis of Antarctica sequencing samples contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 - GitHub - jbloom/PRJNA692319_public: Analysis of Antarctica sequencing samples contaminated with SARS-CoV-2
1
25
113
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Istvan showed me info he had received from Chinese scientists who deposited the sequences. The samples were submitted for sequencing by Sangon Biotech in Dec 2019, & they received results in early 2020. Suggests #SARSCoV2 reads from contamination at Sangon Biotech. (11/n)
2
30
116
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
I agree this is almost certainly the explanation. Contamination at large-scale sequencing facilities happens, and can be due to index hopping / mis-assignment or physical cross-contamination. In this case, former more likely due to bias towards #SARSCoV2 in read 2. (12/n)
1
21
104
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Timeline matters a lot here. According to Chinese scientists, samples submitted in Dec 2019, results received in early 2020. If they were sequenced in Dec 2019 then exceptionally important, because Chinese govt holds #SARSCoV2 not discovered until Dec 30-31... (13/n)
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
... On other hand, if sequenced in early 2020 then they could be contaminated with some early patient samples and still concord with Chinese govt timeline. Right now it doesn't seem there is enough info to narrow down timeline to distinguish between these. (14/n)
2
20
104
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Istvan also explained to me the unfortunate fact that their first pre-print (which is very rigorous and matter-of-fact) was rejected by
@biorxivpreprint
, which is why they had to post it to Research Square where it got less notice. (15/n)
3
25
110
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Shortly thereafter, Istvan & Norbert performed some ingenious further analyses that are basis for their second even more intriguing pre-print https://researchsquare.com/article/rs-1330800/v1…, which was unfortunately also rejected by
@biorxivpreprint
. (16/n)
researchsquare.com
Host genomes for the unique SARS-CoV-2 variant leaked into Antarctic soil metagenomic sequencing...
Recently Csabai et al.1 have found a most likely contaminated metagenomic sample set from Antarctica that contained traces of unique SARS-CoV-2 variants. This is a short followup of that report where...
3
30
108
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
In their second pre-print, they analyzed *host* reads alongside viral reads and found they came from human, African Green Monkey & hamster. (17/n)
1
24
90
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
I have *not* yet independently validated these host analyses and so cannot vouch for them, although they appear solid from textual description. Assuming they are correct, the presence of these host reads in the samples is intriguing. (18/n)
1
16
101
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Obviously, none of these hosts from Antarctica metagenomes & abundance of host reads parallels abundance of #SARSCoV2 reads. The hosts are interesting: Vero cells are African Green Monkey; CHO cells from hamster, & also hamsters themselves used to study #SARSCoV2 (18/n)
1
24
91
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
This fact suggests some #SARSCoV2 reads from samples in Vero & hamster cells (or hamsters). Again significance depends on timeline. #SARSCoV2 in Vero cells in Dec 2019 inconsistent with current account of viral origins, but WIV had virus in Vero cells by early to mid Jan (19/n)
4
26
99
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
Without knowing the sequencing timeline more precisely than the current "December 2019 to early 2020," all we can say is that these samples were contaminated at Sangon Biotech with some early #SARSCoV2 viruses, some of which appear to have been from lab-grown samples. (20/n)
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
This is obviously super interesting, and I hope further analyses or additional data can shed more light. (21/n)
3
10
82
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
18h
One postscript: After being deleted from
@NIH
Sequence Read Archive in early Jan 2022, data were restored later that month. I asked Chinese authors & they did ask to have #SARSCoV2 contaminated samples deleted, but did *not* to have them restored. So unclear what happened (22/n)
16
28
133
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
10h
To clarify, mutations C8782T, C18060T & T28144C towards RaTG13 / BANAL-20-52 *not* unique to these samples. They are also in some other non-market lineage A viruses (see Tweet 7/n). So suggest a sequence about as ancestral as oldest known ones, but not more ancestral (23/n)
3
6
38
Bloom Lab
@jbloom_lab
·
10h
Also to more strongly clarify another point above, these samples are almost certainly contaminated with a *mix* of different #SARSCoV2 samples as indicated by presence of multiple non-fixed viral mutations and reads from multiple host species. (24/n)
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Pathfinder View PostTranslation Google
EXCLUSIVE - The thesis of a manipulated virus escaped from a Chinese laboratory: the pavement in the pool of Pr Luc Montagnier
By Th. B.
...
Posted on 04/16/2020 at 6:00 p.m. | |
THE ESSENTIAL
Professor Luc Montagnier, 2008 Nobel Prize laureate, says that SARS-CoV-2 is a manipulated virus accidentally released from a laboratory in Wuhan, China
Chinese researchers reportedly used this coronavirus as part of work to develop an AIDS vaccine
HIV DNA fragments allegedly found in the SARS-CoV-2 genome
We knew the Chinese version of the emergence of the coronavirus more and more undermined, but here is a thesis that tells a whole different story about the Covid-19 pandemic already responsible for more than 120,000 deaths in the world. According to Professor Luc Montagnier, 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for having "co-discovered" the HIV causing the AIDS epidemic with Fran?ois Barr?-Sinoussi today affirmed that SARS-CoV-2 is a manipulated virus and accidentally left a laboratory in Wuhan, China during the last quarter of 2019. This laboratory known to work on coronaviruses, according to Professor Montagnier, sought to use one of these viruses as an HIV vector as part of the looking for an AIDS vaccine!
"With my colleague, the bio-mathematician Jean-Claude Perez, we looked closely at the description of the genome of this RNA virus," explained Luc Montagnier, interviewed by Dr. Jean-Fran?ois Lemoine for the daily audio journal of Pourquoi Doctor , adding that others had already explored this track: "Indian researchers had already tried to publish the results of analyzes showing that this genome harbored sequences of another virus which is ... HIV, the virus of AIDS, but they were forced to retract, the pressures were too strong! ".
"To insert an HIV sequence into this genome, you need molecular tools"
Faced with these assertions by a professor who is sometimes challenged following iconoclastic positions, in particular on vaccination, one might also think that these conclusions are due to chance and that the coronavirus examined could have been taken from a patient otherwise afflicted with HIV. "No, replies Luc Montagnier, to insert an HIV sequence into this genome, molecular tools are needed, this can only be done in the laboratory".
According to the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine, the explanation is due to an "industrial accident" at the Wuhan laboratory. "The history of the fish market is a beautiful legend ... The assumption is that this virus left the laboratory because it escaped its promoters, it is a work of apprentice-sorcerer!", Estimates he promoting the thesis that the object of this work was the search for an AIDS vaccine.
"The truth always ends up breaking out"
This thesis defended by Professor Luc Montagnier generates in any case "reassuring" information. According to him, the altered elements of this virus eliminate themselves as it spreads: "Nature does not admit any molecular construction, it eliminates these foreign bodies ... even if nothing is done, things will get better, but after many deaths ...", he announces by advancing a solution. To stop the pandemic, Luc Montagnier says that by using "interfering waves, we could eliminate these sequences".
This is enough to fuel famous debates! To the point that Professor Montagnier's assertions could also classify him in the category of "conspirators": "Conspirators, it's the opposite camp, the one who hides the truth", he replies without wanting to accuse anyone but hoping that the Chinese would recognize what he said happened in their laboratory. "Anyway, the truth always ends up coming out, it's up to the Chinese government to take responsibility."
https://www.pourquoidocteur.fr/Artic...Luc-Montagnier
French professor Luc Montagnier, Nobel Prize in Medicine 2008, passed away at 89
Publié le 09/02/2022 à 19:01 - Mise à jour à 19:10
Prof. Luc Montagnier (18 August 1932 – 8 February 2022) at France-Soir.
France Soir
Born on August 18th, 1932, French professor Luc Montagnier, Nobel prize in medicine 2008, passed away on February 8th, 2022 at the age of 89 years old at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Doctor Gérard Guillaume, one of his most faithful associate, informed us that he left in peace, surrounded by his children.
Prof Luc Montagnier was a biologist and a virologist, but he was above all a man with a remarkable intelligence, who dedicated his life to science. In addition to being awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), he worked during his life alongside the greatest scientific institutes in the world.
Described in 1997 by the New York Times as one of Europe’s most eminent scientists, Prof Montagnier has been throughout his career Emeritus Research Director at the prestigious Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (French National Centre for Scientific Research), professor at the Pasteur Institute, director of the Center for Molecular and Cellular Biology at Queens College at the City University of New York, and director of a research institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. For many years, Prof Montagnier also enriched the French Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine with his research, which granted him countless awards and distinctions.
At the autumn of his life, despite his advanced age, he suffered a lot of criticism from members of the scientific community, especially due to his positions on the origins of Covid-19. Yet time seems to prove him right.
Prof Luc Montagnier will be remembered as a man who fought to make science a demanding discipline free from unquestioned dogmas. Naturally, France-Soir was honored to interview him on several occasions, and we would, therefore, like to pay tribute to his memory with all due honors. May the soul of this great man rest in peace.
Auteur(s): FranceSoir
Born on August 18th, 1932, French professor Luc Montagnier, Nobel prize in medicine 2008, passed away on February 8th, 2022 at the age of 89 years old at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Doctor Gérard Guillaume, one of his most faithful associate, informed us that he left in peace, surrounded by his children.
- Likes 1
Leave a comment:
-
Translation Google
Coronavirus Origin of the corona virus: Drosten defends himself against allegations of deception
One mutation is enough
Feb 8, 2022 at 5:04 p.mReading time: 3 mins
The virologist Christian Drosten defends himself against allegations of deception about the origin of the pandemic. In an interview with the SZ, Drosten explains why he doesn't believe that Sars-CoV-2 came from the laboratory - and how the question could finally be answered.
By Hanno Charisius
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a debate about where the new virus called Sars-CoV-2 came from. The virologist Christian Drosten from the Charité in Berlin considers it very likely that this is a natural phenomenon and that traces of its origin in wild animals or breeding farms could still be found, said Drosten in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung . He did not want to rule out the possibility that the disease originated in a laboratory, "but it is currently only a possibility".
The debate about the origin of the new corona virus was fueled last week by two interviews given by the Hamburg physicist Roland Wiesendanger to the magazine Cicero and the Swiss daily newspaper NZZ. In it, the researcher spreads his speculation that Sars-CoV-2 came from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. He accused leading international virologists like Drosten, who assume the virus originated in the animal kingdom, to be deliberately misleading and covering up.
Wiesendanger refers to a switching conference of international experts that took place in early February 2020, which the US presidential adviser Anthony Fauci had suggested. He wanted to discuss the hypothesis of a non-natural origin of Sars-CoV-2 in detail with a group of international experts. According to Wiesendanger, as part of this panel of experts, Drosten is said to have helped to disguise the supposed laboratory origin. There is no evidence for this claim.
Does the furin cleavage site show that the virus has been deliberately manipulated?
In an interview with the SZ, Drosten resolutely countered Wiesendanger's allegations. "You can see in all of my public statements that I've always been open to both possibilities. I just always said that's why I think a natural origin of the virus from the animal kingdom is more likely for verifiable reasons." In the switching conference in question with international experts in February 2020, no pressure was exerted and no possibility was excluded. "In the end, we came to the conclusion that we could say neither 'yes' nor 'no' to the laboratory hypothesis."
From the point of view of the proponents of the laboratory hypothesis, one molecular feature of Sars-CoV-2 speaks in particular for a man-made origin in the laboratory. The so-called furin cleavage site, which enables the pathogen to infect cells in the respiratory tract, is not actually found in this form in the group of corona viruses that also includes Sars-CoV-2 - but certainly in other corona viruses. According to Wiesendanger, this suggests that the cleavage site was installed.
Drosten does not consider this conclusion to be justified. "The diversity of these viruses has not yet been well researched, which is why the furin cleavage site is conspicuous, but no evidence of a non-natural origin," says Christian Drosten. Last year, samples from bats were examined in his laboratory. In doing so, his team came across two specimens of Sars-related viruses in which only one mutation would be necessary, "and then these viruses would also have a furin cleavage site similar to that of Sars-CoV-2," says Drosten. "If only such small changes in the genome are necessary, you can definitely expect something like this to happen in nature."
Drosten also does not see the fact that experiments were carried out in a high-security laboratory in Wuhan to give viruses new properties as evidence of an unnatural origin of Sars-CoV-2. "Things were definitely done in Wuhan that could be described as dangerous. But the Sars-CoV-2 virus could not have come out of it." In the laboratory in Wuhan, bat viruses had new properties built into them, but not those that could be considered the predecessors of Sars-CoV-2.
Drosten misses studies on civet cats or raccoon dogs
Drosten would have liked more transparency from those responsible on site, but also from the US research institutions cooperating with the institute in Wuhan. "Right from the start, when these public allegations came, you should have communicated aggressively and proactively what was being done there in the laboratory," says the Charité virologist.
Drosten is convinced that two years after the start of the pandemic, something can still be found out about the origin of the pandemic. Like many other experts, he also suspects that Sars-CoV-2 originally originated in bats and finally jumped to humans via an intermediate host. Drosten misses usable studies on corona viruses in animals in China, which could be considered as intermediate hosts, such as civets or raccoon dogs. "They are known to be bred and sold in many parts of China, primarily by the fur industry. I would actually have expected that everything would be taken apart with full enthusiasm to find the origin. But there is surprisingly little data on this, which I find striking". In any case, the origin will not be found out from the USA or Germany. "It needs the will of China."
Leave a comment:
Leave a comment: