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

[Kathy]

I have two news:
U.S. researcher ‘on verge of making very significant’ coronavirus findings shot dead: reports
https://globalnews.ca/news/6910721/c...ad-pittsburgh/
Let’s hope there is no connection between the two facts.

Baric lab modified SARS-CoV-2 to make it infective for mice.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.06.081497v1
Let’s hope they have a 100% safe lab.

 

[Shiloh]

Zero evidence the researcher died due to his research: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52568716

 

[Emily]

The media must have Liu mixed up with another researcher. He doesn't seem to do work with coronaviruses at all.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=cDPdf_QAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

 

[Emily]

I was wrong. He had recently started researching coronavirus.
https://www.csb.pitt.edu/department-mourns-the-passing-of-dr-bing-liu/
"Bing was on the verge of making very significant findings toward understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie SARS-CoV-2 infection and the cellular basis of the following complications. We will make an effort to complete what he started in an effort to pay homage to his scientific excellence.

His loss will be felt throughout the entire scientific community. Please keep his family, friends, and colleagues in your thoughts. Thank you."

 

[bertrand789]

We know what of this one :

Instead of properly disposing of infected animals by cremation, as the law requires, they sell them on the side to make a little extra cash. Or, in some cases, a lot of extra cash. One Beijing researcher, now in jail, made a million dollars selling his monkeys and rats on the live animal market, where they eventually wound up in someone’s stomach.
https://nypost.com/2020/02/22/dont-b...ed-from-a-lab/

 

[Pathfinder]

Report says cellphone data suggests October shutdown at Wuhan lab, but experts are skeptical

May 8, 2020, 7:12 PM CDT
By Ken Dilanian, Ruaridh Arrow, Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee, Louise Jones and Lorand Bodo...
...
The report — obtained by the London-based NBC News Verification Unit — says there was no cellphone activity in a high-security portion of the Wuhan Institute of Virology from Oct. 7 through Oct. 24, 2019, and that there may have been a "hazardous event" sometime between Oct. 6 and Oct. 11.
...
Click here to read the report (information identifying individuals has been redacted).
...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/na...s-october-shutdown-wuhan-lab-experts-n1202716

 

[Kathy]

I have an update,

Peter Daszak just confirmed that RaTG13 IS BtCoV4991. Here the link to twitter:

https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/stat...11768217063424

The answer is already in the papers & obvious to people working in virology:
WHERE? The journal Nature never answered to this question.

These are sequences from the same sample, 1st RdRp using sample code at that time, then full genome using 2019 sample naming system.
To my knowledge, it is not common in science to change the name of a sample, because the track of the works where it was published goes lost.

Here the link to the database with the two names connected:

http://www.mgc.ac.cn/cgi-bin/DBatVir...n&acc=MN996532
(please click on + to see all the information)

And a link on SARS-CoV-2 research and censorship:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/s...theory-science

 

[Emily]

Kathy, the Tabletmag article is very good. The author participated in that Twitter thread and is "Khaled Talaat, a doctoral candidate in nuclear engineering and a researcher at the University of New Mexico. He has conducted interdisciplinary research at the intersection of nuclear engineering and bioengineering."
Here is his own Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/KhaledATalaat

"People who ask me about http://Nerddy.com, it's down after "hackers" tried to bruteforce into the database root after my article. We shut down the mysql service as a safety measure and will restore it soon. Nothing so far indicates that they managed to access the root user."

This virus or the reaction to it, however one wants to look at it, had crushed scientific research in all disciplines. I figured scientists in those in disciplines not under the thumb of NIH would start questioning the origin of the virus themselves. They are smart enough and credible but that makes them worth the attempt to silence them.

Wuhan Denialism

Dismissing the possibility that COVID-19 escaped from a lab in China as ‘a conspiracy theory’ is bad science
by Khaled Talaat
May 06, 2020

The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has infected at least 3 million people worldwide and 1 million people in the United States alone. The debate surrounding the origin and source of the virus has heated up with many accusing the opposite side of rejecting scientific evidence. It is more important now than ever to understand the difference between scientific skepticism and a conspiracy theory.

The term conspiracy theory is often used to suggest that an explanation is an implausible hypothesis or is anti-scientific. Yet the existence of bad actors or a cover-up in a hypothesis isn’t enough to constitute a conspiracy theory. Take the Iranian nuclear program as an example. Is it a conspiracy theory to consider that the Iranian pursuit of nuclear energy or uranium enrichment is motivated by nuclear weapon capability ambitions?...

Here is someone else, not sure if he is a scientist or not, but he raised questions about the blasts for RaTG13 and BtCoV4991 back in April.
https://osf.io/wy89d/

Abstract

Recent SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological origin studies have made their conclusion based-in-part by analyzing a bat coronavirus strain that most closely matches SARS-CoV-2 called RaTG13. However, the origins of this strain are obfuscated and therefore the genomics of the strain cannot be trusted, especially in context of determining the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

Supplemental Materials

osf.io/k9rju/

Preprint DOI

10.31219/osf.io/wy89d

License

CC-By Attribution 4.0 Internationa
Bengston, D. (2020, April 21). All journal articles evaluating the origin or epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 that utilize the RaTG13 bat strain genomics are potentially flawed and should be retracted. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/wy89d

 

[sharon sanders]

I have an update,

Peter Daszak just confirmed that RaTG13 IS BtCoV4991. Here the link to twitter:

https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/stat...11768217063424

The answer is already in the papers & obvious to people working in virology:
WHERE? The journal Nature never answered to this question.

These are sequences from the same sample, 1st RdRp using sample code at that time, then full genome using 2019 sample naming system.
To my knowledge, it is not common in science to change the name of a sample, because the track of the works where it was published goes lost.

Here the link to the database with the two names connected:

http://www.mgc.ac.cn/cgi-bin/DBatVir...n&acc=MN996532
(please click on + to see all the information)

And a link on SARS-CoV-2 research and censorship:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/s...theory-science

Because I have learned the hard way to take screen shots. From the above references:

 

[sharon sanders]

The problem is that the China government has its hands into a lot of research now. Follow the money I say.

Even Harvard is affected:


FBI arrests Harvard chemist; two others charged in Chinese research cases

Jan. 28, 2020 at 4:55 p.m. EST

The FBI has arrested the chair of Harvard University’s chemistry department, accusing him of lying about his work for a Chinese university, and charged two others who worked in the Boston area with aiding China’s efforts to steal scientific research, officials announced Tuesday.

“All of the individuals charged today were either directly or indirectly working for the Chinese government at our country’s expense,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta. U.S. officials said the activity they uncovered is part of an ambitious, years-long effort by the Chinese government to steal intellectual property and technology to better compete in the global marketplace.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...e99_story.html

 

[Kathy]

Thank you Sharon for the super screenshot

I agree with Daszak,

BtCoV4991 alias RaTG13 is not SARS-CoV-2. The optimized receptor binding domain to attach human cells and the furin clevage site to give systemic infection were not there.

 

[bertrand789]

Le syst?me de classification du niveau de s?curit? biologique a ?t? remis en cause, du fait que ses normes et d?finitions ne sont pas utilis?es de mani?re uniforme ? l’?chelle mondiale ; la comparaison des laboratoires de diff?rents pays utilisant les mod?les de classification num?riques peut donc ne pas pr?senter d’?quivalence ou ne pas ?tre repr?sentative.

Au fil des ann?es, le r?le des appr?ciations du risque formelles pour le choix de mesures appropri?es de r?duction des risques biologiques a ?t? minimis? ou n?glig? dans de nombreux laboratoires et celles-ci ont ?t? remplac?es par une affectation g?n?rique des agents biologiques, sur la base de leur classification dans les diff?rents groupes de risque, aux laboratoires et animaleries d?finis selon l’un des quatre niveaux de bioconfinement. Ces pratiques ne conduisent pas n?cessairement ? des strat?gies appropri?es pour une gestion avis?e des risques biologiques.
https://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/f...1April2020.pdf

Latest information provided by the OIE Delegate for the People’s Republic China on 5 February 2020

3. Did you isolate the virus from some non- human hosts? If so from what species or samples? Chinese health and veterinary departments have launched a joint project to trace back the source of the 2019-nCov. So far, the virus has not been isolated from non-human hosts.

https://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/e...e_COVID-19.pdf
donc
https://rr-asia.oie.int/en/projects/...d-the-pacific/

https://rr-asia.oie.int/wp-content/u...omm_asiav2.pdf

http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalim...technology/en/

le probl?me : le document de r?f?rence pour les animaux de laboratoire est inaccessible

https://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/e...boratories.pdf

2007

• Accord officiel entre l'Organisation Mondiale de la Sant? Animale et la World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
• Accord officiel entre l'Organisation Mondiale de la Sant? Animale et International Council for Laboratory Animals (ICLAS)

idem 2008

Accord de coop?ration entre l'Organisation mondiale de la sant? animale (OIE)le Conseil international pour la science des animaux de laboratoire (ICLAS)

https://www.oie.int/en/about-us/key-...science-iclas/


voici :

http://web.oie.int/delegateweb/OIEdo.../index.html#17
et
http://iclas.org/

Un exemple r?cent de travail important pour comprendre pourquoi le coronavirus provoque des maladies plus graves chez les personnes ?g?es vient du Peking Union Medical College de P?kin, en Chine. L'ancien membre du conseil d'administration de l'ICLAS, le professeur Qin Chuan, a dirig? une ?quipe qui a compar? la pathologie COVID-19 chez les jeunes et les vieux macaques. Le rapport de Mod?les animaux et m?decine exp?rimentale est disponible ici .
https://iclas.org/uncategorized/stia...-2-2-2-2-2-2-2


c'est qui ce Monsieur , qui ? P?kin a tr?vaill? sur des singes ?
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...002/ame2.12108

 

[Kathy]

Very interesting story:

How Scientists Could Stop the Next Pandemic Before It Starts

On a cold morning in February 2018, a group of 30 microbiologists, zoologists and public-health experts from around the world met at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/magazine/pandemic-vaccine.html

 

[bertrand789]

I will exceptionally make a public admission, I awaited your response. This expectation was special, and your response filled me. It's a strange feeling, close to addiction, is it serious? the communication by the net which was imposed on us, is not a simple activity and very rare are the artists ...

 

[Pathfinder]

Italy -

Translation Google

Coronavirus born in the laboratory? Zaia does not exclude artificial nature

Alessandro Cipolla May 11, 2020 - 8:48 am May 11, 2020 - 8:51 am \

The governor of Veneto Luca Zaia did not rule out that the coronavirus may have been born in the laboratory: "A virus in nature does not lose strength with this speed, but it is my personal opinion".
Coronavirus born in the laboratory? Zaia does not exclude artificial nature

Ever since the coronavirus made its sad appearance, upsetting the life and habits of the whole world, so much has been discussed in various areas on what could be the nature of COVID-19.

Conspiracy theories, which see Wuhan's laboratory at the center where studies of coronaviruses have been carried out for years, are unfailing. For many, it would not be a coincidence that the pandemic got underway right in the Chinese town.

The scientific community so far has always denied this hypothesis, speaking almost unanimously of a natural virus . However, Luca Zaia , who answered a question, suggested that there was something strange in the evolution of this coronavirus to insinuate some doubt on the nature of COVID-19 .

Zaia: laboratory-born coronavirus?
It all stems from a study by a Lombard researcher, who allegedly noticed how coronavirus would have lost intensity in recent weeks . This news has made the governor of Veneto suspicious.

“ If the virus loses strength, it means that it is artificial . A virus in nature does not lose strength with this speed - was Zaia's comment - We note that the endemic phase, that of strong contagion, is less important, less represented today. It will be the temperature, it will be that the virus has disappeared, maybe it will go definitively and so we will not have the autumn recurrence ".

The Northern League, however, is keen to point out that this is his " personal opinion ", but at the same time he reiterated to the journalists present as " if something artificial goes away so quickly, there is something to do ".

" Only scientists can sequence the virus , see its DNA, understand if it turns out to be a 'cut and sew', have fragments of other viruses, or be 'authentic' - he then pointed out close to Ansa - Our job is take care of the health of citizens, which does not disregard the fact that information such as this would give answers to many questions, including clinical ones ".

These words by Luca Zaia which were then shot by the Adnkronos to the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco : “ The artificial origin or the loss for a laboratory error cannot be totally excluded, but the data available to date favor an origin natural coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 ".
...

https://www.money.it/Coronavirus-nato-laboratorio-Zaia-natura-artificiale

 

[Treyfish]

What we don’t know about coronavirus origins might kill us

• Jason Gale, Robert Langreth and John Lauerman
  
  Bloomberg

Mon, May 11, 2020 / 05:15 pm

The best minds in virology are trying to unravel a mystery: How did a lethal coronavirus jump from the wilds of rural China to major human population centers? And what chain of genetic mutations produced a pathogen so perfectly adapted for stealth and mass transmission?

Deciphering the creation story of SARS-CoV-2, as the virus now rampaging around the globe is known, is a crucial step toward arresting a pandemic that’s killed 270,000-plus and triggered what could be the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.

While crash vaccine programs are underway in the US, Europe and China, an inoculation to ward off the virus may not be ready for months, and the jury’s out on potential treatments. In the meantime, to reduce the risk of deadly secondary outbreaks or the emergence of an entirely new strain, disease chasers need to retrace the pathogen’s journey around the globe. That means heading back to China, where it all started sometime in 2019.

Last week, the World Health Organization sought permission from Beijing to send a new scientific mission for more epidemiological detective work. China, which let a WHO team into the country in early February as its epidemic raged, hasn’t yet signed off.

President Xi Jinping, who’s personally overseeing China’s virus response and investigation into how the outbreak started, is keeping tight control over Chinese scientific research, which must be approved prior to publication by authorities, according to two people familiar with the situation.

However, as death tolls and joblessness rise worldwide, pressure on Beijing is intensifying to allow international researchers back in to interview survivors, do field work, and examine virus samples that the country has been stingy about sharing, according to the US

Nearly half a year into a historic global health crisis, there are still enormous gaps in our knowledge. Those unanswered questions are hampering our ability to contain the outbreak and to prevent future pandemics, while fueling a war of words between the US and China over the origins of the virus.....:tiphat:https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...t-kill-us.html

 

[Treyfish]

Air Force Genetics Laboratory, DHA collaborate to further sequence SARS-CoV-2 code


By Military Health System Communications Office / Published May 11, 2020
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFNS) --
The key to finding a vaccine or effective treatment against COVID-19 may lie in its genetic code. As researchers around the globe are searching for clues to unlock the secrets of the novel coronavirus as the epidemic continues to spread worldwide, the Air Force Genetics Center of Excellence at Keesler Air Force Base is aiding in that scientific research effort to sequence the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome, the virus strain that causes COVID-19.

The molecular diagnostic lab at Keesler AFB is just one of a large group of collaborators working together to decipher the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Keesler AFB has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, academic institutions, and other DoD labs, including the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Keesler AFB responded as soon as the overall COVID-19 response effort began.

“Because we have broad expertise and capabilities when it comes to genetics testing, I volunteered our lab to take on this challenge,” said Maj. (Dr.) Mauricio De Castro, noting the benefit of being a military lab is being flexible in times of crisis.

As the reference genetic testing laboratory within the DoD, Keesler AFB knows genetic sequencing. Researchers at the lab have contributed to overall readiness efforts in testing for a wide variety of genetic markers, from rare causes of sudden cardiac death to hereditary cancers. Testing also includes pharmacogenomics, which predicts a patient’s response to drug therapy based on their genetic makeup.

“From a readiness perspective, that's a service member who is ready earlier to go back to the fight instead of waiting two to three months to get on the right medication,” explained De Castro, director of the molecular genetics laboratory at the genetics center.

In the coming weeks, the lab plans to conduct sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus obtained from positive cases. Sequencing of one viral genome takes anywhere between six to 12 hours. Data from the novel coronavirus will provide critical information to researchers as the virus continues to change over time....:tiphat:https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...sars-cov-2-co/

 

[Pathfinder]

Coronavirus: WHO 'not invited' to join China's COVID-19 investigations
...
Tom Cheshire
Asia correspondent @chesh

Friday 1 May 2020 04:53, UK

China has refused repeated requests by the World Health Organisation to take part in investigations into the origins of COVID-19, the WHO representative in China has told Sky News.
...
"WHO is making requests of the health commission and of the authorities," he said. "The origins of virus are very important, the animal-human interface is extremely important and needs to be studied.

"The priority is we need to know as much as possible to prevent the reoccurrence."
...
Dr Galea also told Sky News that the WHO had not been able to investigate logs from the two laboratories working with viruses in Wuhan, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Wuhan CDC.

"From all available evidence, WHO colleagues in our three-level system are convinced that the origins are in Wuhan and that it is a naturally occurring, not a manufactured, virus," he said.

Nevertheless, according to Dr Galea, the laboratory logs "would need to be part of any full report, any full look at the story of the origins".

...
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...-join-chinas-covid-19-investigations-11981193

 

[Shiloh]

Predictable

 

[Emily]

https://www.thecentersquare.com/tex...cle_66241dda-8e62-11ea-aa55-7f9876bc210e.html

top story
University of Texas investigated for links to Wuhan lab

• By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square
• May 4, 2020

(The Center Square) – The University of Texas system is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for its involvement with the infectious diseases laboratory in Wuhan, China, and its potential links to Beijing and roughly 24 Chinese state-owned companies, including telecom giant Huawei, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The investigation comes after the UT system received $172.5 million in federal stimulus money from the CARES Act.

The Education Department's Office of General Counsel sent a letter to Chancellor James Milliken last week requesting that it provide documentation of its dealings with the Chinese laboratory U.S. officials now believe was where the coronavirus was experimented on and leaked from, despite prior conflicting reports.

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Thursday that intelligence agencies are investigating whether the coronavirus outbreak could be "the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan."

In 2019, through NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years to research the risk of an outbreak similar to SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, according to a report by Newsweek. Part of this funding, allocated to a nongovernmental organization, EcoHealth Alliance, was recently halted by the Trump administration.
...