"Historically, the Chinese have done a lot of their bat coronavirus research under BSL-2 conditions..[L]ab-acquired infections occur much more frequently at BSL-2. There is also much less oversight at BSL-2."
"[A] laboratory infection could have occurred under BSL-2 operating conditions. Some unknown viruses pooled from guano or oral swabs might replicate or recombine with others, so you could get new strains with unique and unpredictable biological features."
"[I]f all this research is being performed at BSL-2, then there are questions that need to be addressed. What are the standard operating procedures in the BSL-2? What are the training records of the staff? What is the history of potential exposure events in the lab...."
"....and how were they reviewed and resolved? What are the biosafety procedures designed to prevent potential exposure events?"
"Respiratory infections occur frequently. No one is exempt. What are the biosafety procedures used to deal with these..? Do they quarantine workers who develop fevers? Do they continue to work in the lab or are they quarantined at home..? What procedures are in place..?"
"This is serious stuff. Global standards need to exist, especially for understudied emerging viruses. If you study hundreds of different bat viruses at BSL-2, your luck may eventually run out."
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Ralph Baric: "Historically, the Chinese have done a lot of their bat coronavirus research under BSL-2 conditions..[L]ab-acquired infections occur much more frequently at BSL-2. There is also much less oversight at BSL-2."
"[A] laboratory infection could have occurred under BSL-2 operating conditions. Some unknown viruses pooled from guano or oral swabs might replicate or recombine with others, so you could get new strains with unique and unpredictable biological features."
"[I]f all this research is being performed at BSL-2, then there are questions that need to be addressed. What are the standard operating procedures in the BSL-2? What are the training records of the staff? What is the history of potential exposure events in the lab...."
"Understanding the origins of this pandemic could help prevent the next one. But without a thorough investigation..questions will not be answered..No investigation will succeed as long as China's [and EcoHealth/USAID/DTRA/DARPA/NIH's] doors remain shut."
Kevin Esvelt: "Natural pandemics may be inevitable. Synthetic ones, constructed with full knowledge of society’s vulnerabilities, are not. Let’s not learn to make pandemics until we can reliably defend against them."
"Questions about..oversight..risks and pandemic origins are all legitimate. But perhaps the biggest question..isn’t being asked insistently enough: Why is anyone trying to teach the world how to make viruses that could kill millions of people?"
"[T]o credibly identify a single virus as capable of causing a pandemic is to give thousands the power to wield it as a weapon. To discover many dangerous viruses, or learn to enhance weaker ones, is to share the blueprints for an arsenal of plagues."
Esvelt: "Questions about..oversight..risks and pandemic origins are all legitimate. But perhaps the biggest question..isn’t being asked insistently enough: Why is anyone trying to teach the world how to make viruses that could kill millions of people?"
"Like nuclear physics, with its potential for global catastrophe when put to destructive ends, the proliferation of pandemic biology ought to be considered a matter of international security."
"[A]larmingly, multiple health agencies around the world are actively funding efforts to find, study and rank-order the animal viruses most likely to cause a new pandemic."
"Consensus candidate genomes will be synthesised commercially using established techniques and genome-length RNA and electroporation to recover recombinant viruses'..application states"
"This would result in a virus which had no clear ancestor in nature"
"WHO expert told The Telegraph that the process detailed in the application would create 'a new virus sequence, not a 100% match to anything.'"
"'They would then synthesise the viral genome from the computer sequence, thus creating a virus genome that did not exist in nature but looks natural as it is the average of natural viruses..Then they put that RNA in a cell and recover the virus from it.'"
"No funds are provided and no funds can be used to support gain-of-function research covered under the October 17, 2014 White House Announcement (NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-15-011)."
Violation 2:
"[S]hould any of the MERS-like or SARS-like chimeras generated under this grant show evidence of enhanced virus growth greater than 1 log over the parental backbone strain you must stop all experiments with
these viruses"