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This is very unlikely. The technology to design a virus reliably just isn't there. What is much more likely is that a lab was studying coronavirus isolates fro
by Gatsky 6y ago
This is very unlikely. The technology to design a virus reliably just isn't there.
What is much more likely is that a lab was studying coronavirus isolates from animals, and had a failure of containment. This has happened multiple times before (eg. with small pox).
But even then it is a moot point, because there is no way China, or any country for that matter, would admit they unleashed a global pandemic. Can you imagine the fall out?
- jkhdigital 6y agoThe paper literally walks you through the sequence of published research which demonstrates that scientists have successfully performed chimeric virus manipulation that could explain the observed genetic components present in SARS-CoV-2. The technology is hiding in plain sight.
- Gatsky 6y agoYeah but actually building the proteins is the non-trivial and most difficult step. It is not sufficient to merely say that it could be done.
- jkhdigital 6y agoThey didn’t “build” new proteins, they swapped them between viruses. And their published research doesn’t imply that these things could be done, it is transparent evidence that they did it already.
- Gatsky 6y agoMy understanding is that SARS-CoV-2 has novel amino acid sequences (eg. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7114094/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7114094/). Shuffling genes from other viruses wouldn't achieve this. The original article doesn't seem to address this directly. But I'm not a virologist. Perhaps you know more about it than I do.
- ReflectedImage 6y agoThe technology to design a virus has been around for a decade. You need a computer, a biology degree and 8 dollars. 8 dollars is the cost for a lab to synthesize your virus and put in a container (you may also have to pay postage). It's really really cheap.
- Gatsky 6y agoYou are confusing ‘making’ a virus with designing one with particular virulence and transmission characteristics. The latter is what I am talking about.
- hatsunearu 6y agoOther guy said it but looks like the scientists figured that exact thing out...
- hatsunearu 6y agoBy the way, if you try making bioweapons this way, there are automated systems that will identify it and send the black helicopters instead of your package.
- bitL 6y agoOP obviously didn't mean hobbyists but the black helicopter owners.