Thread by @__ice9

... RaTG13 and other bat CoVs from the same deadly Yunnan cave fitting the stated inclusion rule for use in the hACE2-optimized recombination grant, SARS-CoV-2 indeed binding human ACE2 hundreds of times better than SARS-CoV, winter in a city outside known ranges of such bats,

... fully synthetic recombination techniques and full genome data already available, prior use of non-SARS-CoV backbones and a clear justification for doing so again, a demonstrated history of refusing to disclose sequences and lying about both culture work and deadly pathogens,

... ground zero a human superspreader event at a market down the highway from the WIV CAS office and a few hundred meters from the Wuhan CDCP, *right around a biosafety conference with staff from the BSL3/4 lab* known to be infecting animals at the time.

One was likely sick and simply didn't know it yet, and that is all that would have been required.

The furin site facilitates pre-symptomatic spread, contrary to SARS-CoV which lacked one. It confused the WHO and national authorities. The lab likely didn't quarantine for it.

Removed one post, rephrased:

Multiple demonstrable lies from Shi.

Appointment of Daszak himself to lead the Lancet commission on COVID-19 origins (absurd conflict of interest), rapid statement against (his own) lab involvement.

covid19commission.org/peter-daszak

telegraph.co.uk/global-health/…

Also:

A lab accident in China caused a different respiratory viral pandemic in 1977, namely H1N1 influenza.

nationalpost.com/news/a-brief-t…

archive.fo/wip/Buupf

Other known lab escapes:
- smallpox (3 times)
- SARS (6 times!)
- VEE
- FMD

Article from 2014, with excellent sourcing.

Daszak confirmed WIV bat CoV work was only at BSL-3, or in some cases BSL-2, not BSL-4.

Just for the record, I have personally worked at BSL-2. Precautions are much less severe than e.g. COVID-19 wards.

Stamps:

tweetstamp.org/12664816163036…

tweetstamp.org/12591023808697…

In blockchain.

Discussions of greater binding affinity for human ACE2 by SARS-CoV-2 vs. SARS-CoV:

The effect is magnified by the lack of endosomal entry dependence for SARS-CoV-2, as binding affinities for both fall at endosomal pH:



Obviously it is also another viable entry route, but this is tangential from the claim of greater hACE2 affinity.

All necessary techniques were available and in use by relevant parties years in advance.



This swapping of Spike proteins and even small manually selected mutations has extensive precedent within the SARS-family CoV ecological research community.

Congressional representatives noted concerns raised by the EcoHealth bat coronavirus grant work ongoing in Wuhan as well.



Putting a more permanent halt to the ironic risks of gain-of-function research should be a bipartisan issue.

Also, recall early Chinese samples of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from patients in the community were destroyed.

businessinsider.com/china-confirms…

This is consistent with the broader documented pattern of hiding samples and sequence data, and lying about the extent of experiments performed.

Interview with Baric, in which he states as expected that the fully synthetic methods used in his chimeric SARS-like virus work with EcoHealth do not leave any particular genetic signature at all.



Consistent with impressions from his group's papers.

Further confirmation from Shi's group that adult hACE2-expressing ('humanized') mice were available at WIV for SARS-like CoV infection in January.



Independent evidence that the EcoHealth grant work had been well underway, matches Daszak November comment.

Bat CoVs other than SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV specifically (BSL-3) were apparently handled at only BSL-2, including live animal studies.



This raises a greater degree of concern for inadvertent aerosolization, as most activities are permitted on an open bench.

To give a few examples, here are 6 more lab accidents involving SARS-like coronaviruses from just UNC alone.



Splashed cell plates, scattered mouse bedding, dropped mice, multiple mouse bites, etc.

BSL-3. Staff had PAPRs. Less common at BSL-2.

Further evidence for the use of multiple different backbones in the recombinant SARS-like coronavirus grant--

>inserting them into other *CoVs*

Plural, in the exact context of the wildlife CoV sampling and hACE2 targeting work.

Another early undisclosed human case of putatively novel bat CoV infection in Yunnan province, apart from the Mojiang miner cases--

Unusual procurement activity for emergency supplies beginning in September 2019 in Wuhan.

Overview of particular hazards related to animal studies with BSL-3 pathogens:

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Animal studies tend to be much more hazardous than work conducted solely in vitro. Consider e.g.: