4 ms·
- Every laboratory exposure-related outbreak I've encountered has been trivially easy to trace back to that event. - Most high-end virology labs are doing rese
by Fomite 7y ago
- Every laboratory exposure-related outbreak I've encountered has been trivially easy to trace back to that event.
- Most high-end virology labs are doing research on human to human transmission of corona viruses. They're a major emerging type of virus we don't understand, and a Chinese lab working on them is even less surprising.
- If this was a bioweapon, it sucks.
- izzydata 7y agoOriginating from a lab doesn't necessarily mean it is a weapon. Only that they have poor sterilization or something.
- dk1138 7y agoTrivially easy to trace, sure. But the Chinese government bay be highly motivated to prevent disclosing or allowing discovery of that.
- baddox 7y agoThe ones that are too difficult to trace wouldn't, of course, be included among every lab exposure-related outbreak you've encountered.
- vtail 7y agoYes - it's a good example of a survivorship bias.
- Fomite 7y agoThere are very, very few outbreaks where we don't eventually figure out the source. Like, can you spin the theory that we're missing them? Sure. But there's a pretty strong absence of evidence there, despite a field that's actively looking constantly (and where showing that would further the political and scientific careers of a number of people).
- ranger207 7y ago>If this was a bioweapon, it sucks. Bioweapons aren't all that effective in general for the reasons seen here: they're too slowly acting, to easy to treat, and not as lethal as, say, chemical weapons (which are also not that effective as weapons). Biological weapons are most dangerous as terror weapons.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 7y agoI am not sure I agree completely. Yes, the panic they induce ( and that media happily augment ) is in itself dangerous, but.. well, weaponized ebola has apparently been in existence for a while. What makes you think progress was not made since then to.. add new traits to existing strains? I hate to say anything more, because we would easily move into wild speculation territory.
- Fomite 7y agoAgreed. I worked on biodefense stuff for awhile, and my usual argument was that bioweapons are at best panic and disruption. But this was mostly to address the terminal version of this particular rumor, which I've also encountered on social media.