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Alina Chan

19 Jan, 15 tweets, 10 min read

@dctrjack

Possibly the most comprehensive article to date on the origins of covid-19 - whether it arose naturally or possibly from lab/research activities, written by @dctrjack @CNET cnet.com/features/the-h…

Another article from back in Sep 2020 to read for more details about RaTG13 (closest related virus genome to SARS2), inconsistencies in how it was reported by the WIV, and an inaccessible pathogen database at the WIV. minervanett.no/alina-chan-cor…

💫article from May 2020 to understand how common lab accidents are, even at world class facilities, regardless of country.

".. 80% chance of an escape every 12.8 years. And that was in 2012, when such work was far less commonplace than it is now."
motherjones.com/politics/2020/…

@WSJ

@WSJ article by @mattwridley & I on @WHO covid origins investigation. Ben Embarek, team leader: “If our studies point to a possible lab accident, then other international mechanisms would be involved... It would take time and.. additional.. expertise.”
wsj.com/articles/the-w…

@dctrjack

I'm just pleased that I got my quote into @dctrjack's article:

"Back in February to at least June last year, people were batshit crazy about pangolins."

Back then, people couldn't stop talking about pangolins and recombination leading to SARS-CoV-2.

@shingheizhan

For those who are interested in understanding exactly what transpired with the pangolin CoV papers, please see our preprint (w @shingheizhan) - it underwent 21 weeks of editorial and peer review. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Now rewritten and under peer review at a 2nd journal.

@Nature

Our communications with @Nature resulted in this Editor's Note on one of two key papers producing the Guangdong pangolin CoV genome that has been widely used in numerous scientific studies of SARS2 evolution. No idea when the matter will be resolved. nature.com/articles/s4158…

@PLoSPathogens

The other paper @PLoSPathogens no warning to readers that the authors have not produced the novel sequencing data in their publication; their genome (99.95% identical to that in the @Nature paper) continues to be used by scientists. journals.plos.org/plospathogens/…

@USRightToKnow

See emails obtained by @USRightToKnow

@PLOSPathogens authors claim "there is no relationship with each other (@Nature authors) and "we don't know where the samples of the Nature paper from"

usrtk.org/biohazards-blo…

@PLOSPathogens

Senior authors from both papers had recently published a paper together on the SAME pangolin CoV dataset in October 2019 that was used to generate the genomes in their @PLOSPathogens and @Nature pangolin CoV papers (posted to bioRxiv in Feb 2020).

No relationship???

@PLOSPathogens

The editor who reviewed the @PLOSPathogens pangolin CoV paper said "similarities between the two studies came to light only after both studies had been published" "I did not see any amplicon data" "did not verify the veracity of the July 2019 sample" usrtk.org/wp-content/upl…

@PLOSPathogens

Does @PLOSPathogens have a timely mechanism for notifying readers of their publications about such concerns?

You know the authors did not produce the pangolin CoV data even upon repeated requests.

The metrics of their article is nothing to scoff at: journals.plos.org/plospathogens/…

@ScienceMagazine

It's getting kind of ridiculous that even in Shi's most recent @ScienceMagazine article, Jan 2021, when they talk about pangolins, they cited their own review (B Hu, H Guo, P Zhou, ZL Shi, Nat Rev Microbiol) instead of citing any of the pangolin papers. science.sciencemag.org/content/371/65…

@WHO

Similarly, @WHO global study on origins of covid, when they talk about the pangolin CoV with the SARS2-like RBD (region of great interest), instead of citing any of the 4+ pangolin CoV papers, guess what? They cited the Proximal Origins paper (Andersen).
who.int/publications/m…

It gives me the impression that you've realized there are some very serious issues with these pangolin papers, but you won't stop talking about the pangolin CoV (with the SARS2-like spike receptor-binding domain) in the context of naturalizing SARS-CoV-2.

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More from @Ayjchan

Alina Chan

@Ayjchan

19 Jan

https://twitter.com/MyrneStol/status/1351247816002326531

Worth listening for couple of minutes on new data concerning South African SARS2 variant 20H/501Y.V2 (B.1.351).

Seems that only first wave patients with severe covid, robust response to virus had neutralizing antibodies. But still unclear how lab results translate to real world.

https://twitter.com/MyrneStol/status/1351247816002326531

Also, without being able to directly see the data, unclear whether the same patient serum samples could also neutralize the original SARS2 variant or other currently circulating variants.

@GISAID

As of Jan 15, 2021 (sequences deposited into @GISAID), these are the 14 countries where the South African 501Y.V2 variants have been detected.

Visualized on covidcg.org @CovidCg cumulative number of sequences in the B.1.351 lineage by country, over time (by week).

Read 6 tweets

Alina Chan

@Ayjchan

19 Jan

https://twitter.com/TaiwanNews886/status/1350985143150903298

A few people sending this to me and asking if this is a smoking gun. It isn’t.

WIV’s publications+EcoHealth grants (and Daszak’s tweets) have said as much. Problem is that all of the closest virus genomes to SARS2, eg RaTG13, GD/GX pangolin, RmYN02, only made public post-covid.

https://twitter.com/TaiwanNews886/status/1350985143150903298

Yes, near the end, Daszak speculates you could make a vaccine that works against diverse sars viruses by making a chimeric sars virus (made of parts of different sars viruses). But I don’t think this would’ve been sars2- it doesn’t seem to elicit good antibodies against sars1.

It would be nice if EcoHealth could release all unpublished information they received from WIV while they were subcontracting work from the 5+ year NIH grants to them. What type of research, exactly, had been started/planned but not published?

Read 8 tweets

Alina Chan

@Ayjchan

16 Jan

https://twitter.com/mbeisen/status/1350537123120570368

Very diplomatic take on the issue. I don't agree with everything in the thread, but agree that if this was a lab release it is a global problem - too many labs doing the type of work that can lead to accidental outbreaks.

https://twitter.com/mbeisen/status/1350537123120570368

https://twitter.com/mbeisen/status/1350537134201995264

On this point, we cannot let our fears of what will happen to science obstruct a thorough and transparent investigation into origins.

We cannot afford to not investigate lab origins because we are terrified of the consequences if found to be true.

https://twitter.com/mbeisen/status/1350537134201995264

Some scientists have dug themselves a hole by insisting on natural origins and ruling out or casting lab origins as conspiracy theories.

Those scientists do not represent the rest of scientific community, which for better or worst, have been quiet on this hyper-dangerous topic.

Read 5 tweets

Alina Chan

@Ayjchan

16 Jan

The US “has determined that the WIV has collaborated on publications and secret projects with China’s military. The WIV has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017.” state.gov/fact-sheet-act…

This was interesting. When did the pangolin experiments begin? Pre- or post-covid?

“The WIV became a focal point for international coronavirus research after the 2003 SARS outbreak and has since studied animals including mice, bats, and pangolins.”

@WHO

“Any credible inquiry into the origin of the virus must include interviews with these researchers and a full accounting of their previously unreported illness.”

Good timing. The @WHO origins investigation team is in China now.

Read 9 tweets

Alina Chan

@Ayjchan

15 Jan

@WSJ

1st time co-authoring an essay for a news site @WSJ Very thankful to @mattwridley for taking me under his wing and also to all of the wonderful experts @Peterfoodsafety @maciekboni @R_H_Ebright @FilippaLentzos @MilesPomper @DavidRelman @robertson_lab

wsj.com/articles/the-w…

@WHO

... who talked to us about this issue. Our piece is necessarily critical of @WHO investigation in terms of calling for actual steps to look into potential lab origins. But I found that all of the experts we talked to about this had very reasonable and persuasive viewpoints.

@mattwridley

@mattwridley and I wanted this piece to be a lot longer, in terms of clearly laying out the points for natural origins vs the points for lab origins in a balanced way, but a lot of that had to be reserved for another time. So please stay tuned for our next article together.

Read 9 tweets

Alina Chan

@Ayjchan

15 Jan

https://twitter.com/suilee/status/1349864752495751169

"The Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, wanted by the United States on fraud charges, has already been leading a cushy life in her gated, seven-bedroom mansion in Vancouver, out on $8 million in bail and awaiting the outcome of her extradition hearing."

https://twitter.com/suilee/status/1349864752495751169

"The tiny flashes of dry wit and glimmering hope that surface in his letters and his conversations with consular officials tell them that he’s still there, somehow.
“He always tells me, ‘I’ve got this day to day. Just get me out,’ ” says Kovrig’s wife
macleans.ca/news/michael-k…

"Nadjibulla & Kovrig met as graduate students at Columbia University.. they were both working at the UN.. Her work with various UN agencies often took her into war zones, and they had an agreement that if anything bad ever happened, he would find a way to get her out."