Thread by @elleprovocateur

"These so-called founders will then passively spread the #vaccine to other animals they encounter either by #touch, #sex, #nursing, or #breathing the same air."

thebulletin.org/2020/09/scient…

"For at least 20 years, scientists have been experimenting with such self-spreading #vaccines, work that continues to this day, and which has gained the attention of the US #military."

2020: "We are now poised to begin developing self-disseminating vaccines targeting a wide range of human pathogens, [] decisions remain about how they can be most effectively designed & used to target pathogens w/ a #highrisk of spillover &/or emergence."

nature.com/articles/s4155…

"...this means that the same research that is used to develop self-spreading #vaccines to prevent disease, could also be used to deliberately cause #harm. You could, for instance, engineer triggers into a virus that cause #immunesystem failures in infected people or animals..."

"The #bioweapon question. While researchers may intend to make self-spreading #vaccines, others could repurpose their science and develop biological weapons. Such a self-spreading #weapon may prove uncontrollable & #irreversible."

"We don’t have to dig very deep for a historical example of weaponized #biology. As the apartheid-era #South #African #biowarfare program shows, social, political, & scientific pressures can lead to the misuse of biological innovation."

"Codenamed #ProjectCoast, South #Africa's program was primarily focused on covert #assassination weapons for use against individuals deemed a threat to the racist apartheid government."

unidir.org/publication/pr…

"While there have been many #biowarfare programs,[] the South #African program is particularly relevant in thinking through malicious uses of self-spreading #vaccines. One of Project Coast’s research projects aimed at developing a human anti-#fertility vaccine."

"Self-spreading #vaccine research is a small but growing field. At the moment, about 10 institutions are doing significant work in the area. These labs are primarily located in the US, but some are in Europe & Australia... As the field expands, so does the potential for abuse."

"... research has primarily been bankrolled by US gov't science & health funders like the National Science Found., the Nat. Institutes of Health, & the Depart. of Health & Human Services. Private orgs like the #Gates Found. & academic institutions have also financed projects."

August 19, 2020: "We now have the #technology to develop #vaccines that spread themselves"

"Lab & field trials need to check how effective this approach is and look for possible unexpected #consequences of self-disseminating #vaccines."

newscientist.com/article/mg2473…

Sept 2020: "#COVID19 cure: Scientists plan to develop 'self-spreading' coronavirus #vaccine"

"this unusual method also comes w/ risks, such as the possibility of an accidental #mutation that could have a negative or #fatal effect on #humans & #wildlife."

econotimes.com/COVID-19-cure-…

Trends in Microbiology, Jan 2018: "Transmissible Viral Vaccines"

"#Genetic engineering now enables the design of live viral vaccines that are potentially transmissible."

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

"The feasibility of #inhaled #RNA for passive transfection has also been proven in a # of studies. On a mechanistic level, the inhaled RNA may lead to passive synthesis of non-infectious spike proteins using cell transfection machinery..."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…