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Does your single-issue account mean to suggest that sequencing a close-ish relative of COVID in 2018 means they were growing it in a lab? I can‘t think of a goo
by ImaCake 5y ago
Does your single-issue account mean to suggest that sequencing a close-ish relative of COVID in 2018 means they were growing it in a lab? I can‘t think of a good explanation that would link sequencing to lab experiments.
RATG13 is 96% similar to Sars-cov-2 which means there is a staggering 1200 mutations between them. For reference, Delta and Omicron are both about 40-70 mutations away from OG Sars-COV-2. And that‘s after 2 very good years for Sars-COV-2 evolution!
- ratg13 5y agoMy username is just a coincidence. I create a new account every few months and I've never used this one to discuss this topic. The only points I am trying to get across are (1) This lab was working with a precursor to the virus we know and it's perfectly reasonable to ask where the sample came from (2) The fact that they deleted this sequence and also RATG13 and others leads one to believe that these aren't innocent mistakes and are worth investigating further to determine why they are going to such lengths to destroy data.
- DiogenesKynikos 5y agoThey didn't delete RaTG13. The WIV published a Nature article describing RaTG13 in early 2020, identifying it as the (then) closest known relative of SARS-CoV-2. Far from destroying or hiding data, the WIV is the institute that publicized the existence and highlighted the importance of RaTG13.