3 ms·

1. I don't think allocating funds to reproduce research would be worth the cost of displacing other new research. The current way of discovering that research i

by _yb2s 2y ago

1. I don't think allocating funds to reproduce research would be worth the cost of displacing other new research. The current way of discovering that research is wrong by trying to build on it isn't perfect either, but it is still more efficient than systematically reproducing a lot of research. In my experience, scientific reproducibility has gotten substantially better in recent years- the standard of evidence, and the quality and correctness of statistical analyses are both much higher than they used to be. 2. Experts don't consider that human research contributed to COVID because it is completely implausible to anyone that understands virology research. Moreover, current safety standards for doing research on infectious human diseases in BSL level 3 and 4 labs are incredibly rigorous- and although they carry non-zero risk, what we learn from this research more than outweighs it by improving our ability to treat and prevent disease. See here for a discussion of what virologists think about the lab leak theory: https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-special-how-the-pandemic-began/ https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-special-how-the-pandemic-be...

WatchDog 2y ago
The US select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, under Biden, concluded that the virus most likely originated from the Wuhan lab https://x.com/covidselect/status/1863637371624862163?s=46 https://x.com/covidselect/status/1863637371624862163?s=46
- _yb2s 2y ago
  That is a subcommittee of the House of representatives- I'm not sure why you didn't mention the House, or mentioned Biden instead? It's a panel of politicians with an obvious political bias, and while some are MDs, none of have the technical background to have any type of informed opinion on virology or molecular biology related issues. The virus is not closely related to any known wild viruses that have or were being studied by humans. The closest wild virus that has been identified branched off from whatever jumped to humans 40 years earlier[1]. The technology and knowledge to create a working virus like SARS-CoV-2 from known distantly related viruses does not exist- it simply could not be done accidentally or intentionally. Evidence strongly supports the theory that a wild bat virus jumped through other non-bat species, and then was transmitted to Humans in the Huanan market sometime in November 2019[2]. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35137080/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35137080/ [2] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337
  - WatchDog 2y ago
    > That is a subcommittee of the House of representatives- I'm not sure why you didn't mention the House, or mentioned Biden instead? Fair point, you are right, it's irrelevant, I guess I was just trying to preemptively dispel an association to trump. The committee is bi-partisan, but it did have a republican majority at the time the report was released. The senate report is of course not the only government report on covid origins. Most recently the CIA has commented that the virus is "more likely" to have leaked from a lab.[0] > The virus is not closely related to any known wild viruses that have or were being studied by humans. The closest known virus is RaTG13, collected by WIV in 2013[1]. WIV took down it's online database of bat viruses on 12 September 2019[4]. Potentially to conceal it's custody of a closer related virus. > The technology and knowledge to create a working virus like SARS-CoV-2 from known distantly related viruses does not exist- it simply could not be done accidentally or intentionally. Peter Daszak's EcoHealth Alliance, applied for funding[2] to insert human proteolytic cleavage sites into SARS-like coronaviruses[3]. [0]: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9qjjj4zy5o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9qjjj4zy5o [1]: https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Declassified-Assessment-on-COVID-19-Origins.pdf https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Declass... [2]: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21066966-defuse-proposal/ https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21066966-defuse-prop... [3]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363729325_DRASTIC_-_An_Analysis_of_Project_DEFUSE https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363729325_DRASTIC_-... [4]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349073738_An_investigation_into_the_WIV_databases_that_were_taken_offline https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349073738_An_invest...
    - _yb2s 2y ago
      I’m not going to systematically rebut what you cited because it has been done better than I can (see the TWIV link above), but I have heard all of what you cited before, and frankly it still appears to be just a politically motivated conspiracy theory that is extremely implausible.
      - WatchDog 2y ago
        I’ve watched the video now, and after watching it and reading more, I think you have changed my mind on the lab leak being the most likely cause. I’m still not happy with the letter that Fauci and Daszak co-signed early on in the pandemic, nor with Fauci’s offices attempts to obstruct the foia process. It’s disappointing that so little physical evidence was collected early in the pandemic, i don’t think we will ever have conclusive proof of the origin of the virus.

by _yb2s 2y ago

WatchDog 2y ago

The US select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, under Biden, concluded that the virus most likely originated from the Wuhan lab https://x.com/covidselect/status/1863637371624862163?s=46 https://x.com/covidselect/status/1863637371624862163?s=46

_yb2s 2y ago
That is a subcommittee of the House of representatives- I'm not sure why you didn't mention the House, or mentioned Biden instead? It's a panel of politicians with an obvious political bias, and while some are MDs, none of have the technical background to have any type of informed opinion on virology or molecular biology related issues. The virus is not closely related to any known wild viruses that have or were being studied by humans. The closest wild virus that has been identified branched off from whatever jumped to humans 40 years earlier[1]. The technology and knowledge to create a working virus like SARS-CoV-2 from known distantly related viruses does not exist- it simply could not be done accidentally or intentionally. Evidence strongly supports the theory that a wild bat virus jumped through other non-bat species, and then was transmitted to Humans in the Huanan market sometime in November 2019[2]. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35137080/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35137080/ [2] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337
- WatchDog 2y ago
  > That is a subcommittee of the House of representatives- I'm not sure why you didn't mention the House, or mentioned Biden instead? Fair point, you are right, it's irrelevant, I guess I was just trying to preemptively dispel an association to trump. The committee is bi-partisan, but it did have a republican majority at the time the report was released. The senate report is of course not the only government report on covid origins. Most recently the CIA has commented that the virus is "more likely" to have leaked from a lab.[0] > The virus is not closely related to any known wild viruses that have or were being studied by humans. The closest known virus is RaTG13, collected by WIV in 2013[1]. WIV took down it's online database of bat viruses on 12 September 2019[4]. Potentially to conceal it's custody of a closer related virus. > The technology and knowledge to create a working virus like SARS-CoV-2 from known distantly related viruses does not exist- it simply could not be done accidentally or intentionally. Peter Daszak's EcoHealth Alliance, applied for funding[2] to insert human proteolytic cleavage sites into SARS-like coronaviruses[3]. [0]: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9qjjj4zy5o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9qjjj4zy5o [1]: https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Declassified-Assessment-on-COVID-19-Origins.pdf https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Declass... [2]: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21066966-defuse-proposal/ https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21066966-defuse-prop... [3]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363729325_DRASTIC_-_An_Analysis_of_Project_DEFUSE https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363729325_DRASTIC_-... [4]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349073738_An_investigation_into_the_WIV_databases_that_were_taken_offline https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349073738_An_invest...
  - _yb2s 2y ago
    I’m not going to systematically rebut what you cited because it has been done better than I can (see the TWIV link above), but I have heard all of what you cited before, and frankly it still appears to be just a politically motivated conspiracy theory that is extremely implausible.
    - WatchDog 2y ago
      I’ve watched the video now, and after watching it and reading more, I think you have changed my mind on the lab leak being the most likely cause. I’m still not happy with the letter that Fauci and Daszak co-signed early on in the pandemic, nor with Fauci’s offices attempts to obstruct the foia process. It’s disappointing that so little physical evidence was collected early in the pandemic, i don’t think we will ever have conclusive proof of the origin of the virus.