4 ms·

Unique furin cleavage sites are very common in coronaviruses (see below paper). In fact, one of the papers linked from the intercept article you posted even me

Unique furin cleavage sites are very common in coronaviruses (see below paper). In fact, one of the papers linked from the intercept article you posted even mentions HCoV-HKU1 which also has a unique furin cleavage site at s1/s2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1873506120304165 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187350612... I found all of this in about 10 minutes of googling and 15 minutes of reading. Which means I’m as qualified to weigh in on the subject as anyone else here now.

deleted 3y ago
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streptomycin 3y ago
There are other coronaviruses (broad category) with furin cleavage sites, but there are not other sarbecoviruses (more narrow category) with furin cleavage sites. What those two facts tell you about the origin of Covid-19 is beyond my pay grade.
EMM_386 3y ago
They are not common, and "10 minutes of googling" isn't going to get you anywhere. Read my link to the FOIA documents. There are many redacted, for "national security". Why would they be redacted for US national security if this came from a natural animal origin? It should at least give you pause to think. Possibly because the US was funding it via NIH grants to EcoHealth Alliance, which puts everyone in quite the bind? 6+ million dead and finger pointing between global superpowers probably isn't the outcome they had in mind. "In April 2020 correspondence with EcoHealth Alliance, NIH wrote that it "received reports that the Wuhan Institute of Virology ... has been conducting research at its facilities in China that pose serious bio-safety concerns." Page 54. Or this, where the NIH is requesting the location of a scientist who disappeared? Page 235. "The Wuhan institute sequenced the genome of the new virus in January after receiving patient samples. In addition to requiring EcoHealth Alliance provide a sample of the sequenced coronavirus, the NIH said in its letter that EcoHealth Alliance must “explain the apparent disappearance” of a scientist who worked in the Wuhan lab." There are too many other pages (between all the pages of redactions) worth reading to mention them all.
- throw0101a 3y ago
  > Why would they be redacted for US national security if this came from a natural animal origin? Because US intelligence has an asset in the lab perhaps? I've heard it said that intelligence briefings are often 90-95% what you can find in any newspaper (or website nowadays), but the last few percentage points use various 'assets and techniques' that the other side doesn't want to get out. Often it's not about knowing the what of actions and events, but the why.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

streptomycin 3y ago

There are other coronaviruses (broad category) with furin cleavage sites, but there are not other sarbecoviruses (more narrow category) with furin cleavage sites. What those two facts tell you about the origin of Covid-19 is beyond my pay grade.

EMM_386 3y ago

They are not common, and "10 minutes of googling" isn't going to get you anywhere. Read my link to the FOIA documents. There are many redacted, for "national security". Why would they be redacted for US national security if this came from a natural animal origin? It should at least give you pause to think. Possibly because the US was funding it via NIH grants to EcoHealth Alliance, which puts everyone in quite the bind? 6+ million dead and finger pointing between global superpowers probably isn't the outcome they had in mind. "In April 2020 correspondence with EcoHealth Alliance, NIH wrote that it "received reports that the Wuhan Institute of Virology ... has been conducting research at its facilities in China that pose serious bio-safety concerns." Page 54. Or this, where the NIH is requesting the location of a scientist who disappeared? Page 235. "The Wuhan institute sequenced the genome of the new virus in January after receiving patient samples. In addition to requiring EcoHealth Alliance provide a sample of the sequenced coronavirus, the NIH said in its letter that EcoHealth Alliance must “explain the apparent disappearance” of a scientist who worked in the Wuhan lab." There are too many other pages (between all the pages of redactions) worth reading to mention them all.

throw0101a 3y ago
> Why would they be redacted for US national security if this came from a natural animal origin? Because US intelligence has an asset in the lab perhaps? I've heard it said that intelligence briefings are often 90-95% what you can find in any newspaper (or website nowadays), but the last few percentage points use various 'assets and techniques' that the other side doesn't want to get out. Often it's not about knowing the what of actions and events, but the why.