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Considering all the negative comments here, I'd say we should be just as careful trusting "science" news reporting as we think science itself should be (which i

Considering all the negative comments here, I'd say we should be just as careful trusting "science" news reporting as we think science itself should be (which it is). The official statement from BU makes a good point on that [0]. The sensationalism perpetuated by far right-wing news outlets is in fact the main danger here. Yes, there's always room for improvement, but if we are not experts able to understand the research as it was actually conducted, imho we should not jump to conclusions and blame the scientists etc. This only serves one goal (of those far-right orgs) to further diminish trust in science among the general public. [0] https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/neidl-researchers-refute-uk-article-about-covid-strain/ https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/neidl-researchers-refute-uk...

TMWNN 4y ago
First, Statnews is not a "far right-wing news outlet". Second, quoting from said Statnews article: >But it has become apparent that the research team did not clear the work with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was one of the funders of the project. The agency indicated it is going to be looking for some answers as to why it first learned of the work through media reports. >Emily Erbelding, director of NIAID’s division of microbiology and infectious diseases, said the BU team’s original grant applications did not specify that the scientists wanted to do this precise work. Nor did the group make clear that it was doing experiments that might involve enhancing a pathogen of pandemic potential in the progress reports it provided to NIAID. >“I think we’re going to have conversations over upcoming days,” Erbelding told STAT in an interview. The BU press release does not address this at all.
- dinvlad 4y ago
  Yes, but the initial report was in Daily Mail, which is far-right. This is what I was referring to. They picked up a story and sensationalized it. Without that report, this wouldn’t be a story because this kind of research is done all the time and no one makes a big deal out of it.

TMWNN 4y ago

First, Statnews is not a "far right-wing news outlet". Second, quoting from said Statnews article: >But it has become apparent that the research team did not clear the work with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was one of the funders of the project. The agency indicated it is going to be looking for some answers as to why it first learned of the work through media reports. >Emily Erbelding, director of NIAID’s division of microbiology and infectious diseases, said the BU team’s original grant applications did not specify that the scientists wanted to do this precise work. Nor did the group make clear that it was doing experiments that might involve enhancing a pathogen of pandemic potential in the progress reports it provided to NIAID. >“I think we’re going to have conversations over upcoming days,” Erbelding told STAT in an interview. The BU press release does not address this at all.

dinvlad 4y ago
Yes, but the initial report was in Daily Mail, which is far-right. This is what I was referring to. They picked up a story and sensationalized it. Without that report, this wouldn’t be a story because this kind of research is done all the time and no one makes a big deal out of it.