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Hey Alina, thanks for contributing so much to the discussion. One thing that always made me balk was this interview on CCTV which shows researchers collecting

Hey Alina, thanks for contributing so much to the discussion. One thing that always made me balk was this interview on CCTV which shows researchers collecting bat samples (feces etc) while seemingly skimping on PPE and admitting to getting bit by the wild animals and having a clear skin reaction all the way back in 2017 [1] - Do you have any comment on that in particular? Supposedly these are researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology but all I have to go by on that notion is some news from Taiwan and the New York Post, since I don't speak Chinese this video is a little harder for me to personally verify... [1] https://youtu.be/MNkyeUZHUoU https://youtu.be/MNkyeUZHUoU

ayjchan 4y ago
Hi Jamal, Yes, there is quite a bit of evidence (photos and interviews of the scientists) showing that the virus hunters in Wuhan did not always wear appropriate protective equipment while hunting for potential pandemic viruses in remote areas. We describe this and provide citations in VIRAL (will be on page 127 in the paperback). In any case, even with full PPE, you can get bitten or exposed to animals and their pathogens. Accidents happen, especially in an uncontrolled environment, e.g., a cave swarming with millions of live bats that you're trying to catch and sample.
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  Nice, I am a voracious book reader so I'll keep my eye out for your title. I definitely support your push for getting gain of function research reconsidered, I can't imagine anything but nefarious ends to that kind of thing whether or not it is the culprit behind what we've all gone through over the past couple of years.