Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Alina Chan Profile picture
@Ayjchan
Sep 20, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X
Scrolly
I’m hearing from some readers that fb and maybe twitter are flagging this article as misinformation ~24h after posting. Let’s see what happens! bostonmagazine.com/news/2020/09/0…
I think I figured out what's happening. It's past 24h now and I have not seen a misinformation warning on shares of the article (thank goodness). The misinfo tag pops up when people share the article alongside text saying that SARS2 was most likely engineered in a lab.
For the record, I think all 3 scenarios: pre-adaptation, pre-circulation in humans, lab-based origins are -plausible- and must continue to be investigated. It's not productive to be guessing the probabilities of each scenario. Game-changing evidence can emerge any time.
Take a look at the past 9 months: people were going crazy about the seafood market & Chinese people eating bats in early 2020, then we went through a pangolin phase (some continue to swear by pangolins being the intermediate host), and now pre-circulation in humans is in vogue...
How SARS2 transmitted from bats, maybe through an intermediate host, into humans is still an open question with no evidence of the virus having ever passed through an intermediate. Despite testing millions of people & animals worldwide, we haven't found a SARS2 precursor/sibling.
It's like someone looking for their keys the morning after a long night of partying. They've ransacked their coats, laundry, living room (the most likely places), but are refusing to check the bedroom or kitchen because they've never left their keys in these areas before...
It could be unlikely, but maybe in a few minutes, they'll remember that they raided the fridge for leftovers last night and left the keys in there by accident for the first time ever. You may as well check the kitchen/fridge before pulling the floorboards out of the living room.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Alina Chan

Alina Chan Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Ayjchan

Alina Chan Profile picture
May 12
From the 2018 Andes strain hantavirus outbreak:

One patient did not have physical contact and simply said "hello" to the infected person as they crossed paths at a birthday party.

2 patients sat at different tables separated by 1-2m from the infected person. Image
This info was in the supplementary appendix of the @NEJM study describing the cases.
nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1…
@NEJM Not saying the Andes hantavirus is as transmissible as covid or measles.

But a virus doesn't have to be that transmissible to cause a pandemic. HIV caused a pandemic without being spread through the air.
Read 11 tweets
Alina Chan Profile picture
Apr 28
Senior advisor to Anthony Fauci finally charged for concealing federal records following a criminal referral from former House COVID Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup.

“I can either send stuff to Tony on his private Gmail [sic], or hand it to him at work or at his house,” Morens wrote in one April 21, 2021, email. “He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.”
"Information in the indictment indicates the co-conspirators are Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of Manhattan-based non-profit EcoHealth Alliance, and Dr. Gerald Keusch, an associate director of Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory..."
In 2023 emails shared by @gdemaneuf, Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance and Gerald Keusch from Boston's high containment pathogen lab conspired to recruit prominent friends to push back on calls for increased oversight of research that can kill millions of people.

David Morens (the above charged senior advisor to Fauci) and Peter Hotez are cc'ed on these emails.Image
Read 12 tweets
Alina Chan Profile picture
Mar 13
Listened to 'Privatizing the Apocalypse', a conversation on the dangers of virus hunting & pandemic resurrection between @Rob_Reid & Sam Harris @MakingSenseHQ

The number of people capable of causing pandemics is growing. Governments are not tracking & regulating this research.
Link to podcast:
samharris.org/podcasts/makin…

Link to substack:
robreid.substack.com/p/the-deep-lun…
One point I appreciated in their discussion was that a virus doesn't need to be 100% lethal to upend society.

It just has to be lethal enough that essential workers decide they won't go out and expose themselves and their loved ones to death.
Read 6 tweets
Alina Chan Profile picture
Oct 27, 2025
The @BrookingsInst event on the media's role in investigating Covid origins is livestreaming:
brookings.edu/events/the-rol…
@BrookingsInst "I don't think I've ever investigated a story where there were as many obstacles as this." - @KatherineEban @VanityFair on Covid origins reporting.
@BrookingsInst @KatherineEban @VanityFair "It was incredibly hostile on social media... I was called every name in the book. I was very lucky to have a publication and editor who they were like 'We don't care what people think and what they say. We just care if we're right and our story is accurate.'" - @KatherineEban
Read 17 tweets
Alina Chan Profile picture
May 14, 2025
The soft corruption behind the Proximal Origin letter must be investigated and the authors and their handlers held accountable.

How else will you deter scientists from hiding the involvement of powerful funders in their papers and their "scientific" conclusions?
Jeremy Farrar, the scientist who orchestrated the Proximal Origin letter was not named as an author or acknowledged. He was the director of the Wellcome Trust and had funded one of the authors.

Farrar is now @WHO chief scientist.
@WHO None of these major funders who funded the Proximal Origin authors were acknowledged in the paper although Kristian Andersen privately thanked them for their advice and leadership as they worked on the letter.
Read 7 tweets
Alina Chan Profile picture
May 7, 2025
The executive order signed on Monday was not a ban or moratorium on risky pathogen research with the potential to cause pandemics.

It was a charge for OSTP and other agency heads to come up with a new policy & strategy for governing and tracking such research in under 180 days.
I do not see any wording in the executive order asking scientists to pause their research if it falls under the definition of dangerous gain-of-function.
whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
The executive order is a step in the right direction and I hope that @WHOSTP47 will come up with an improved policy and strategy for pathogen research with catastrophic risks.

But right now, the executive order is not a ban or even a moratorium.
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(