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> “We will use a large dataset of S protein sequences and full-length genomes generated from prior work and DEFUSE fieldwork to estimate SARSr-CoV substitution

by ckw 4y ago

> “We will use a large dataset of S protein sequences and full-length genomes generated from prior work and DEFUSE fieldwork to estimate SARSr-CoV substitution rate and its genome-wide variation.” (D1, p.15) > “Sub-Task 1.2 Collect monthly specimens from bats at cave sites in Yunnan, China for SARSr-CoV screening and sequencing. Oral, fecal, and blood sample collected from 360 Rhinolophus spp. bats per month using live- capture and non-invasive sampling. Specimens shipped to laboratory for analysis. Associated morphological, demographic, and physiological data for individual bats collected (EHA, consultant Zhu).”(D1, p.25) “Deliverables: Specimens from 3,240 bats and fecal pellets collected from high-risk reservoir populations which have been obtained with all proper permits and permissions and shipped to WIV for analysis; real-time telemetry and mark-recapture data uploaded and made available to DARPA collaborators; completed database maintained.” (D1, p.25)

lamontcg 4y ago
Most of that collected and sequenced virus will be dead. For samples like blood it would be very difficult to infect labworkers, it would need to be something like an accident with aerosolized fecal samples which were inhaled. But assuming there was any live virus in those samples the human exposure will be dwarfed by the workers in mines and those who collect bat guano for fertilizer without any PPE at all. There's many times more bat-human contact around rural China which doesn't involve labworkers and where there's no precautions (as we know from the Mojiang miners who died). And there's still a vast gulf from collection sampling to engineered chimeric viruses and gain of function experiments.
- ckw 4y ago
  Except there was no gulf. The purpose of the proposed collection of novel bat coronaviruses was to facilitate gain of function experiments at WIV involving the alteration of spike proteins, including the introduction of ‘appropriate human-specific cleavage sites’. In a recent interview Jeffrey Sachs said that he spoke to one of the original reviewers of the DEFUSE proposal, who said ‘the research was done before the proposal went in.’ https://youtu.be/vtfIIG8iYIk https://youtu.be/vtfIIG8iYIk 32:10s So, researchers propose to create a novel corona virus with precisely the attributes of sars-cov-2 in 2018. At the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Having already secretly completed the research. And we are supposed to believe that sars-cov-2 originated naturally, despite no evidence of such an origin, as in sars-1 and mers, and after almost three years spent searching for the reservoir.

by ckw 4y ago

lamontcg 4y ago

Most of that collected and sequenced virus will be dead. For samples like blood it would be very difficult to infect labworkers, it would need to be something like an accident with aerosolized fecal samples which were inhaled. But assuming there was any live virus in those samples the human exposure will be dwarfed by the workers in mines and those who collect bat guano for fertilizer without any PPE at all. There's many times more bat-human contact around rural China which doesn't involve labworkers and where there's no precautions (as we know from the Mojiang miners who died). And there's still a vast gulf from collection sampling to engineered chimeric viruses and gain of function experiments.

ckw 4y ago
Except there was no gulf. The purpose of the proposed collection of novel bat coronaviruses was to facilitate gain of function experiments at WIV involving the alteration of spike proteins, including the introduction of ‘appropriate human-specific cleavage sites’. In a recent interview Jeffrey Sachs said that he spoke to one of the original reviewers of the DEFUSE proposal, who said ‘the research was done before the proposal went in.’ https://youtu.be/vtfIIG8iYIk https://youtu.be/vtfIIG8iYIk 32:10s So, researchers propose to create a novel corona virus with precisely the attributes of sars-cov-2 in 2018. At the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Having already secretly completed the research. And we are supposed to believe that sars-cov-2 originated naturally, despite no evidence of such an origin, as in sars-1 and mers, and after almost three years spent searching for the reservoir.