Thanks for referencing my tweet - & asking some questions I would! I 1st learned of the referenced Italy antibody-escape gain-of-function paper via an HN post

Thanks for referencing my tweet - & asking some questions I would! I 1st learned of the referenced Italy antibody-escape gain-of-function paper via an HN post which appeared almost concurrently with the first reports of the (not-yet-named) Omicron variant: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29359125 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29359125 As Twitter user @Vbruttel has pointed out (https://twitter.com/VBruttel/status/1466930489026093056 https://twitter.com/VBruttel/status/1466930489026093056), similar published research was done in Durban South Africa, which has at most a BSL-3 lab. This is not to say either of those are the origin; just that this kind of research seems pretty common: within the capability & interest of many labs, who cheerfully report their creation, via selective pressure, of immune-escape variants in published papers.