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Discussion: Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Wuhan has been working with bats and coronavirus for many years - DNA manipulations, cloning....

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  • This is significant - Alina Chan and Ralph Baric and others joining forces calling for a real scientific investigation into sars-cov-2 origin. Hat tip to GardenSpider. (This was retweeted by Dr. Li-Meng Yan.)

    _____________________________________________

    Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

    i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

    "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

    (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
    Never forget Excalibur.

    Comment




    • Top researchers are calling for a real investigation into the origin of covid-19

      A group of prominent biologists say there needs to be a ?safe space? for asking whether the coronavirus came out of a lab.

      by Rowan Jacobsen

      May 13, 2021

      REUTERS/Thomas Peter

      A group of prominent biologists say there needs to be a ?safe space? for asking whether the coronavirus came out of a lab.

      Now, in a letter in the journal Science, 18 prominent biologists?including the world?s foremost coronavirus researcher?are lending their weight to calls for a new investigation of all possible origins of the virus, and calling on China?s laboratories and agencies to ?open their records? to independent analysis.

      ?We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data,? the scientists write.
      ...
      The discussion around the lab leak hypothesis has already become highly political. In the US, it has been embraced most loudly by Republican lawmakers and conservative media figures, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The resulting polarization has had a chilling effect on scientists, some of whom have been reluctant to express their own concerns, says Relman.

      ?We felt motivated to say something because science is not living up to what it can be, which is a very fair and rigorous and open effort to gain greater clarity on something,? he says. ?For me, part of the purpose was to create a safe space for other scientists to say something of their own.?...
      _____________________________________________

      Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

      i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

      "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

      (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
      Never forget Excalibur.

      Comment




      • Further evidence supports controversial claim that SARS-CoV-2 genes can integrate with human DNA

        A team of prominent scientists has doubled down on its controversial hypothesis that genetic bits of the pandemic coronavirus can integrate into our chromosomes and stick around long after the infection is over. If they are right?skeptics have argued that their results are likely lab artifacts?the insertions could explain the rare finding that people can recover from COVID-19 but then test positive for SARS-CoV-2 again months later.

        Stem cell biologist Rudolf Jaenisch and gene regulation specialist Richard Young of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who led the work, triggered a Twitter storm in December 2020, when their team first presented the idea in a preprint on bioRxiv. The researchers emphasized that viral integration did not mean people who recovered from COVID-19 remain infectious. But critics charged them with stoking unfounded fears that COVID-19 vaccines based on messenger RNA (mRNA) might somehow alter human DNA. (Janesich and Young stress that their results, both original and new, in no way imply that those vaccines integrate their sequences into our DNA.)

        Researchers also presented a brace of scientific criticisms, some of which the team addresses in a paper released online todayby the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). ?We now have unambiguous evidence that coronavirus sequences can integrate into the genome,? Jaenisch says.



        Comment


        • How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love the Lab-Leak Theory*
          Donald G. McNeil Jr.

          Donald G. McNeil Jr.
          1 day ago?19 min read

          In early spring 2020, I reported an article for The New York Times on which I put the tentative headline: ?New Coronavirus Is ?Clearly Not a Lab Leak,? Scientists Say.?

          It never ran.

          For two reasons...

          Read more: https://donaldgmcneiljr1954.medium.c...y-f4f88446b04d

          Comment


          • JJackson
            JJackson commented
            Editing a comment
            I was a little concerned when I saw this was from McNeil as I had taken issue with a very poor article he had written about vaccine escape in the 2009 pandemic - and by the title. However I have read this now and it is an excellent well balanced overview and mercifully, unlike many of the links in this thread, not written to promote an agenda but in search of the truth relating to how this virus transitioned from a bat to a human virus. Highly recommended.

        • FOX NEWS FLASH
          Published 24 mins ago

          Pompeo calls on China to release evidence disproving Wuhan lab leak theory: 'Come on, bring it'
          ...
          While I can?t prove it, every piece of evidence - and you?ve seen scientists today come out saying we need more investigation - points to a leak from this laboratory. That?s all circumstantial to be sure. The people who could clean this up and answer the questions have refused to do. ? If I?m wrong, they could embarrass Mike Pompeo. Come on, bring it. Show the world this didn't come from Wuhan Institute of Virology.
          ?
          They're not gonna do that. They know they covered this up in the same way that Chernobyl was covered up for so long. We saw the same results, millions of people dead.

          Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on China Tuesday to release evidence that disproves the theory that COVID-19 originated at a lab in Wuhan.
          "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
          -Nelson Mandela

          Comment



          • Bat out of hell? Covid is global but questions over Wuhan lab leak won?t go away
            ...
            Saikiran Kannan
            Singapore
            May 18, 2021UPDATED: May 18, 2021 18:41 IST
            ...
            Probable signs of a lab leak?

            It is very critical to note that the project 2013FY113500 was under review by China?s ministry of science and technology, with September 30, 2019, being the deadline. During this time, the MoST did a few other things.

            Firstly, it released a tender to identify five major novel viral pathogens from wild animals and carry out a biosecurity risk assessment by testing them on small animals.

            Secondly, MoST blocked access to the WIV pathogen database.

            At the same time, the Wuhan city center for disease control and prevention released an emergency tender to purchase virus detection kits that included 40,500 PCR testing kits. The Wuhan CDC also released tenders to dispose of 2.5 tons of hazardous biochemical waste from their labs.
            ...
            There are now some OSINT-based data obtained that shows mysterious blips in Google search and Wikipedia trends for the terms ?Coronavirus? and ?SARS?, in Hubei province in September 2019.

            Eric Haseltine, Ph.D., is a former intelligence officer who started looking at the possibilities of search trends showing up on Google and Wikipedia based on theories that the outbreak first started between September and early October.
            ...
            Google Trends, which displays ?normalised? search traffic for specific queries, localized to specific geographic regions, showed two ?blips? in search interest in China for the terms ?Coronavirus? and ?SARS?, one in Hubei province ( where Wuhan is the capitol) in September 2019 and one in Beijing in October 2019. Because the data are normalised (given as ratios of search to the maximum number of searches for that term), only Google knows the actual raw numbers of searches for any given term, but the normalised data do give an indication of changes in the relative volume of search.
            ...
            The world is yet to strongly question the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Unless that is done, there is no way countries can protect themselves and their people in future. India Today decided to get in touch with groups of scientists and researchers to understand more on the possibilities of the SARS-CoV-2 virus being a result of an accidental lab leak.
            "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
            -Nelson Mandela

            Comment


            • Originally posted by Emily View Post
              https://www.technologyreview.com/202...ogists-letter/

              Top researchers are calling for a real investigation into the origin of covid-19

              A group of prominent biologists say there needs to be a ?safe space? for asking whether the coronavirus came out of a lab.

              by Rowan Jacobsen

              May 13, 2021

              REUTERS/Thomas Peter

              A group of prominent biologists say there needs to be a ?safe space? for asking whether the coronavirus came out of a lab.

              Now, in a letter in the journal Science, 18 prominent biologists?including the world?s foremost coronavirus researcher?are lending their weight to calls for a new investigation of all possible origins of the virus, and calling on China?s laboratories and agencies to ?open their records? to independent analysis.

              ?We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data,? the scientists write.
              ...
              The discussion around the lab leak hypothesis has already become highly political. In the US, it has been embraced most loudly by Republican lawmakers and conservative media figures, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The resulting polarization has had a chilling effect on scientists, some of whom have been reluctant to express their own concerns, says Relman.

              ?We felt motivated to say something because science is not living up to what it can be, which is a very fair and rigorous and open effort to gain greater clarity on something,? he says. ?For me, part of the purpose was to create a safe space for other scientists to say something of their own.?...
              More from this article:

              ...
              The chief scientist for emerging disease at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Shi Zhengli, said in an email that the letter?s suspicions were misplaced and would damage the world?s ability to respond to pandemics. ?It?s definitely not acceptable,? Shi said of the group?s call to see her lab?s records. "Who can provide an evidence that does not exist?"

              ?It?s really sad to read this ?Letter? written by these 18 prominent scientists.? Shi wrote in her email. ?The hypothesis of a lab leaking is just based on the expertise of a lab which has long been working on bat coronaviruses which are phylogenetically related to SARS-CoV-2. This kind of claim will definitely damage the reputation and enthusiasm of scientists who are dedicated to work on the novel animal viruses which have potential spillover risk to human populations and eventually weaken the ability of humans to prevent the next pandemic.?
              ...
              The letter echoes some of the concerns of an earlier call for a new investigation published in the Wall Street Journal by a collection of 26 policy analysts and scientists...

              But that group consisted largely of outsiders, and the letter was dismissed by some established virologists on the grounds that its signatories lacked appropriate expertise...

              No such dismissal will be possible with this new letter, whose signatories include Akiko Iwasaki, a Yale immunologist who has spearheaded the research on the immune system?s response to SARS-CoV-2, and Ralph Baric, the University of North Carolina virologist who is considered the world?s foremost authority on coronaviruses, and who pioneered techniques for genetically manipulating such viruses that became a major aspect of research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

              The new letter also gains extra gravitas from its publication in Science, one of the world?s most prestigious journals.
              ...
              "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
              -Nelson Mandela

              Comment



              • John Kennedy
                @SenJohnKennedy

                Where does the CDC think the #coronavirus came from?

                CDC director: ?Certainly, a lab-based origin is one possibility.?

                I?d like to know more, wouldn?t you?

                11:54 AM ? May 19, 2021?Twitter Media Studio

                Video:
                "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
                -Nelson Mandela

                Comment


                • Identification of a novel lineage bat SARS-related coronaviruses that use bat 2 ACE2 receptor

                  Comment


                  • hat tip friend of FluTrackers


                    Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate On Covid-19 Origin

                    Report says researchers went to hospital in November 2019, shortly before confirmed outbreak; Adds to calls for probe of whether virus escaped lab

                    By
                    Michael R. Gordon
                    ,
                    Warren P. Strobel
                    and
                    Drew Hinshaw
                    May 23, 2021 2:57 pm ET


                    WASHINGTON?Three researchers from China?s Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report that could add weight to growing calls for a fuller probe of whether the Covid-19 virus may have escaped from the laboratory.

                    The details of the reporting go beyond a State Department fact sheet, issued during the final days of the Trump administration, which said that several researchers at the lab, a center for the study of coronaviruses and other pathogens, became sick in autumn 2019 ?with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illness.?

                    The disclosure of the number of researchers, the timing of their illnesses and their hospital visits come on the eve of a meeting of the World Health Organization?s decision-making body, which is expected to discuss the next phase of an investigation into Covid-19?s origins.

                    more...


                    Comment


                  • Posted earlier on this thread but please see:

                    China - COVID-19 - 1st known case traces back to November 2019 - FluTrackers documentation of possible early 2019 outbreak trend - March 14, 2020

                    Comment


                    • bump this

                      Comment


                      • Source: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...7161621868451/

                        China denies three Wuhan lab researchers fell ill in November 2019
                        By Elizabeth Shim

                        May 24 (UPI) -- China said Monday a report that three scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill as early as November 2019, a month before the first known outbreak of COVID-19 from a seafood market, is not true.

                        The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report, researchers were hospitalized in November.
                        Advertisement

                        But China said Monday the Journal article is false and international health experts have disproved the claims...

                        Comment


                        • Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 24, 2021
                          ...
                          Bloomberg: There have been media reports over the weekend that three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough that in November 2019 they sought medical care. Does the foreign ministry have a comment on this report? Does it have anything to add to China's previous comments about the origins of the coronavirus? ...

                          Zhao Lijian: Regarding your first question, the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of sciences has issued a statement on March 23. According to the statement, the Wuhan Institute of Virology had not been exposed to Covid-19 before December 30, 2019, and a "zero-infection" record is kept among its staff and graduate students so far.

                          This January, the China-WHO joint mission made field trips to institutions including the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and visited biosafety laboratories and had in-depth and candid exchanges with experts there. Through these field trips and in-depth visits, members of the mission unanimously agreed that the allegation of lab leaking is extremely unlikely. Member of the joint mission Peter Daszak said during an interview with American media that they were able to have in-depth exchanges with authoritative experts in the Wuhan Institute of Virology with a level of openness even he hadn't anticipated, when the claim of lab leaking was politicized on a global scale. The experts went to every place they asked to see, and met everyone they wanted to meet. The visit has been a great success.

                          Meanwhile, I also want to point out that there are increasingly more reports on the virus and COVID-19 pandemic being spotted in various places around the world early in the second half of 2019, and that the international community is highly concerned about the questions around the biological lab at Fort Detrick and the real intentions of the US' establishment of 200-plus overseas bio-labs. What is the real purpose for the US to continue to play up the so-called "lab leak theory"? Does it really care about the origin-tracing of the virus or just want to divert attention? We hope that the relevant departments in the US will make a clarification and explain that to the world as soon as possible. We hope that relevant parties will follow China's example, take a scientific and cooperative attitude, work with the WHO on origin-tracing, and make positive contribution to the humanity's early victory over the pandemic and better capabilities in dealing with public health emergencies in the future.
                          ...
                          Bloomberg: Could you confirm it all that three people from the Wuhan Institute of Virology became so sick in November 2019 that they did go to hospital? Are those details the facts?

                          Zhao Lijian: I just made clear the position of the Chinese side citing the statement released by the Wuhan Institute of Virology on March 23. As a matter of fact, the Wuhan Institute of Virology had not been exposed to Covid-19 before December 30, 2019, and a "zero-infection" record is kept among its staff and graduate students so far. Therefore, the report you mentioned that three people at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill is totally untrue.
                          ...
                          "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
                          -Nelson Mandela

                          Comment


                          • Source: https://www.theweek.in/news/health/2...igin-hunt.html

                            Amid Wuhan lab's denials, why a copper mine is back in focus in COVID origin hunt
                            In April 2012, 6 miners tasked with clearing bat excreta in the mine fell ill, 3 died
                            Web Desk May 25, 2021 10:24 IST

                            On Monday, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), one of China's premier virology research institutions, was back in the news after The Wall Street Journal reported that three researchers became ill with symptoms similar to COVID-19 in November 2019.

                            The report reignited the 'Wuhan lab leak' theory that claimed COVID-19 had leaked from the research institution. Not surprisingly, the Wuhan Institute of Virology has dismissed the reports.

                            Yuan Zhiming, director of the WIV's Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory told China's Global Times tabloid that The Wall Street Journal report was a "complete lie".

                            "Those claims are groundless. The lab has not been aware of this situation [sick researchers in autumn 2019], and I don't even know where such information came from," Yuan told the Global Times.

                            China has consistently denied reports linking the origin of COVID-19 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

                            Abandoned mine back in focus

                            On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that one of its reporters was detained by police in China's Mojiang where he was questioned. The police deleted from the reporter's cellphone a photograph of an abandoned copper mine in Mojiang, which has been linked to the origins of COVID-19.

                            In April 2012, six miners tasked with clearing bat excreta in the mine fell ill with severe pneumonia and three of them subsequently died.

                            The incident at the Mojiang mine had ignited curiosity the world years before the pandemic began. Scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology visited the site to take samples of bats and identified multiple new coronavirus variants.

                            The Wall Street Journal reported that questions about the nature of the illness of the miners and research by the Wuhan Institute, in addition to China's continuing curbs on reporting from the Mojiang area, have "have elevated into the mainstream an idea once dismissed as a conspiracy theory: that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, might have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, the city where the first cases were found in December 2019".

                            The Wall Street Journal quoted material from academic theses in China to shed light on the nature of the illness experienced by the miners in 2012, which bear similarities to COVID-19. The Wall Street Journal noted one of the miners "had suffered from a fever and cough for two weeks... he had trouble breathing and had begun coughing up rust-color mucus spotted with blood. A CT scan revealed severe pneumonia, with the same lung markings now seen in many COVID-19 patients".

                            At the time, Chinese researchers suspected the cause of the illness was "a bat-borne SARS-like coronavirus". The Wall Street Journal reported Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers worked at the mine, taking samples from 276 bats. "Half of the samples tested positive for coronaviruses, including an unidentified strain of a SARS-like one, according to the scientists. They called the virus RaBtCoV/4991,” The Wall Street Journal reported...


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