6 ms·
Here's a likely related paper from 2007: https://jvi.asm.org/content/82/4/1899 https://jvi.asm.org/content/82/4/1899 In this study, a human immunodeficiency v
by svscam 7y ago
Here's a likely related paper from 2007:
https://jvi.asm.org/content/82/4/1899 https://jvi.asm.org/content/82/4/1899
In this study, a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-based pseudovirus system was employed to address these issues. Our results indicated that the SL-CoV S protein is unable to use ACE2 proteins of different species for cell entry and that SARS-CoV S protein also failed to bind the ACE2 molecule of the horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus pearsonii. However, when the RBD of SL-CoV S was replaced with that from the SARS-CoV S, the hybrid S protein was able to use the huACE2 for cell entry, implying that the SL-CoV S proteins are structurally and functionally very similar to the SARS-CoV S. These results suggest that although the SL-CoVs discovered in bats so far are unlikely to infect humans using ACE2 as a receptor, it remains to be seen whether they are able to use other surface molecules of certain human cell types to gain entry. It is also conceivable that these viruses may become infectious to humans if they undergo N-terminal sequence variation, for example, through recombination with other CoVs, which in turn might lead to a productive interaction with ACE2 or other surface proteins on human cells.
Look at the authors:
Zhengli Shi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Zhengli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Zhengli
She is a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Shi and her colleague Cui Jie found that the SARS virus originated in bats.
- svscam 7y agoPosts like this tend to get flagged quickly on HN. Meanwhile, you can freely conspiracy theorize all you like about the machinations of the CIA, NSA, etc., regardless of how little evidence you have. It's the same on other social media websites. Zero Hedge got deplatformed from Twitter for talking about this. The CCP is exerting a frightening chilling effect on public discourse, even in America.
- tic_tac 7y agoIt is extremely frightening, and it's important that we continue to fight for freedom of expression on all platforms. Unfortunately so many have an innate bias against the US that any criticism of it is considered fair game regardless of how conspiratorial or absurd.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- rblatz 7y agoIt seems like you want me to jump to a conclusion, but all I see is a researcher that studied a virus that has potential to jump to human hosts, and that has a natural reservoir in the area that the do their research.
- nate_meurer 7y agoNo, they didn't just study it. They engineered a variant of a SARS-like coronavirus specifically to be able to infect humans. The paper's abstract says they did this by "combining a human immunodeficiency virus-based pseudovirus system with cell lines expressing the ACE2 molecules of human, civet, or horseshoe bat."
- snovv_crash 7y agoYes, that's how one studies these things. The models we have in simulation are far too crude, so scientists are forced to make the real versions. I have a friend who does this with tuberculosis to study how it develops resistance to drugs. Part of it was trying to enhance or block certain genetic pathways, and yes, sometimes it results in tuberculosis strains with much higher adaptivity than normal. This is how we learn what the pathogen uses, and, hopefully, how to stop it, or at least how not to make the situation worse.
- nate_meurer 7y agoHey man, no argument from me; I appreciate the need to study deadly diseases in the flesh. I just wonder if they could maybe locate their biosafety-level-4 lab somewhere other than in a metropolis of eleven million people. You know, just in case. For what it's worth, one of the names on that paper is Shi Zhengli, one of the lab’s top researchers who is now defending the lab to the media: [Shi Zhengli] said on her social media account that she “guaranteed with her own life” that the outbreak had nothing to do with the lab but was a “nemesis for the barbaric habits and lifestyle of some people – like eating wild game including bats.” https://asiatimes.com/2020/02/coronavirus-lab-leakage-rumors-spreading/ https://asiatimes.com/2020/02/coronavirus-lab-leakage-rumors... EDIT: As I noted in my other comment, these researchers didn't actually create a new coronavirus, but rather a much simpler and safer virus purpose-built to test some receptor-binding structures.
- dang 7y ago> Meanwhile, you can freely conspiracy theorize all you like about the machinations of the CIA, NSA, etc., regardless of how little evidence you have That's not true at all. Rather, there's randomness around what gets flagged and/or moderated. People read into that whatever patterns they want to see, or are already convinced are happening.
- tn890 7y agoCan someone with a better understanding of molecular biology and virology explain what this means? I don't want to jump to conclusions.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- nate_meurer 7y agoThe paper describes how virologists in Wuhan engineered a "SARS-like" virus -- previously limited only to bats -- specifically to make it infective in humans via the ACE2 receptor. That's the same receptor used by the SARS-CoV-2 bug we're fighting now. Note that the paper was submitted 12 years ago. They've had a lot of time to work out the kinks, if they were so inclined. EDIT: I want to repeat what I've said in other comments, because what I initially said was inaccurate. These researchers didn't actually create a new coronavirus, but rather a much simpler and safer virus purpose-built to test some receptor-binding structures. This is a well-established way to study viruses safely, and this kind of work is critical if we're to learn how to develop vaccines faster in response to epidemics.
- ploxiln 7y agoSARS infected 8000 humans in 2002. It was a coronavirus. (That's why the current one gets the "-2" suffix.) Nature beat the researchers by a number of years (and they were presumably trying to figure out how).
- nate_meurer 7y agoAccording to the paper, you're exactly right.
- echelon 7y agoWhy on earth would they do this? What sort of application does this have or serve? If it's a bioweapon, why was it published? Is there any concrete genetic or documented evidence to show COVID-19 is engineered? This is a big claim and has severe ramifications for China, if true.
- tomerico 7y agoWow. Quite an eerie find. Where did you come across it?
- Fnoord 7y agoProf. SHI Zhengli elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology [1]. Seems to be a widely respected scientist in this specific field. [1] http://english.whiov.cas.cn/ne/201903/t20190308_206697.html http://english.whiov.cas.cn/ne/201903/t20190308_206697.html