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"Dr. Goldstein noted that the testing paper listed the individual mutations the Wuhan researchers found in their tests. Although the full sequences are no longe
by bigpumpkin 5y ago
"Dr. Goldstein noted that the testing paper listed the individual mutations the Wuhan researchers found in their tests. Although the full sequences are no longer in the archive, the key information has been public for over a year, he said."
- wallacoloo 5y agoNot to mention it was deleted in June 2020. I have to imagine many researchers had already downloaded the data by then and that there are a number of local copies that could be shared out if there was compelling reason to do so. If it was a coverup it was a rather poor one. It’s hard for me to think this was nefarious, unless the intention was just to delay (in a plausibly deniable manner).
- mrkstu 5y agoIt isn't, by itself, conclusive at all, but the amount of smoke China generates around this whole thing, vs transparency, screams that there is fire in the middle of the smoke.
- SketchySeaBeast 5y agoIs this amount of smoke uncharacteristic for China?
- tux3 5y agoEstablishing a pattern of shiftiness would not make the actions in question less questionnable. If I hear a surprising claim from a pathological liar, I'm also less likely to believe it, not more!
- SketchySeaBeast 5y agoTrue, but saying that doesn't actually give it weight. And they aren't making a claim here, they are denying an accusation. My saying "Hey, pathological liar, I think you're Santa" and them denying doesn't make it more likely they are Santa.
- tux3 5y agoThat's fair! I overstretched my analogy a little :)
- joejerryronnie 5y agoNo, but neither is fire
- tgb 5y agoIf SRA is like the closely related GEO database, then you can upload data without it being public yet. You frequently do so prior to publication (but give the reviewers special access) and then make it public later. So it may never have been publicly accessible.
- jashephe 5y agoNot sure why a direct quote from the article is getting so heavily downvoted. Maybe there’s something here, but if the variants were in the published paper, it doesn’t really matter if the raw sequences were yanked off of the SRA.