1/T
This thread will look at some statements in @zeynep's NYT article on lab leak conspiracism.
Some preliminary notes first.
nytimes.com/2021/06/25/opi…
[archive.is/hFqmR]
2/T
I + others argued with lab conspiracists for over a year. We saw their arguments + addressed them in detail; that's how we know they're nonsense.
I'll thus often link to threads that explain points in detail, so I don't have to rehash it all here.
3/T
You often need serology (i.e. antibody) studies to tell who's been infected, since many infections are missed otherwise.
Those studies show more prior infections with SARS-like viruses.
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
4/T
Zoonotic transfer outside of a lab happens so often it's taken for granted. You can't list them all transfers because they're so numerous, unlike lab leaks.
It's more the rule rather than the exception, given the ease of infection outside of a lab.
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
5/T
Given that, one needs *evidence* to claim a lab leak instead of zoonotic transfer, not just paranoid suspicion
21:33 to 24:06 :
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
npr.org/sections/goats…
6/T
There are labs across China studying SARS coronaviruses, infecting organisms or cells with them, etc.
Conspiracy theorists would have made stuff up about those labs as well, if an outbreak occurred in the same city as them.
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
7/T
The 'proximity to a lab' argument is weak anyway. For instance, it would just as easily led to the (wrong) conclusions that SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV came from labs. And it uses the poor reasoning about probability typical among conspiracist theorists.
8/T
As an immunologist, I can say that the whole 'RaTG13 / miners' saga helped convince me that many, if not most, SARS-CoV-2 lab conspiracists are incompetent and/or dishonest.
That includes @TheSeeker268 + others at DRASTIC.
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
9/T
For example, it's unlikely SARS-CoV-2 came from RaTG13, given the evolutionary distance between them. They're more like distant cousins (ex: humans vs. chimpanzees). So bringing it up is a red herring
europeanreview.org/wp/wp-content/…
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…
10/T
Calling the DRASTIC team "internet sleuths" is more respect than they merit. They're a bunch of paranoid conspiracists who can't get basic biology right.
Also, suspicious activity happens in the absence of a lab leak.
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
11/T
And again, the level of protection researchers have when working with viruses is more than the non-existent levels of protection that everyday people have when exposed to viruses.
21:33 to 24:06 :
thebulletin.org/2020/05/let-ev…
12/T
@zeynep peddles disinformation from Rupert Murdoch's media empire, via Sky News. That's the level of fact-checking we're dealing from her here.
She owes people an apology.
[with: ]
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
13/T
The video she said "reportedly showed live bats in the [WIV]" actually showed an Australian lab where Dr. Shi formerly worked.
@nailbomb3 (an actual "internet sleuth") figured that out, while DRASTIC members credulously fell for the disinformation
14/T
To cite @snpsandsnRNPs again:
@zeynep is "a sociologist with no biology training."
For those of us with experience with biology training, SARS-CoV-2 does not look like intelligently engineered by humans. It looks cobbled together by nature.
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
15/T
This is 1 reason why many say dealing with lab conspiracists is like dealing with creationists / Intelligent Design proponents:
Attributing to intelligence what actually is unguided evolution.
16/T
SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, etc. are BSL3 pathogens, which means some forms of work on them can be done under BSL2 conditions.
That's been known for over a year. If that's news to some people, that's their problem. 🤷♂️
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
17/T
Then @zeynep peddled misinformation and/or disinformation from denialists + crackpots. Worse, it's in immunology, my field of expertise.
Could she not have run this by anyone with actual expertise on serology? 😑
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
18/T
The first discovered cases of SARS-CoV-1 were not near the likely site of original zoonotic transfer. Same for HIV. And ebolavirus. And...
But when that happens with SARS-CoV-2, all of a sudden non-experts become suspicious
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
19/T
What surprised to an uninformed non-expert can be mundane to an informed expert.
Hence why it's so important for non-experts listen to expert virologists, geneticists, etc. who actually have experience dealing with past pathogen outbreaks.
20/T
You know who was already canvassing the likelihood that the first SARS-CoV-2 zoonotic transfer occurred early?:
Kristian Anderson et al. in early 2020
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Congratulations to some people for finally catching up.
archive.is/hFqmR#selectio…
21/T
So overall, @zeynep's article is not good, but it's not as bad as some of the ludicrous nonsense from DRASTIC, Nicholas Wade, Steven Quay, etc.
It contains clear misinformation / disinformation, along with some good points. I wouldn't recommend it to non-experts, though.
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