Reviewers within DARPA “were really shocked” by the “irresponsible” nature of the proposal, and its lack of consideration for the risks that gain-of-function research would entail, an official, who was not authorized to speak to reporters, told me.
Andersen: “I was quite appalled, actually, to see it released now. I think the U.S.-based researchers that were on this particular grant have done a huge disservice by not releasing this information earlier.”
French virologist: "The secret is if you just look closely enough, you can see a tiny Wuhan Institute of Virology signature."
What this chapter of her work demonstrates, however, is a high tolerance for risk. “They were essentially playing Russian roulette with the virus that the world’s expert had labelled poised for human emergence,” David Relman, a microbiologist at Stanford, said.
Human hubris is high on my list, but sometimes it is just pure stupidity:
"They exhibit an admirable drive to follow the money, to upend centralized power, to overturn academic hierarchy, and to expose the injustices of oppressive governments. "
@CD57227 @JanKlimkowski @Florin_Uncovers @DavRoeck @R_H_Ebright @emilyakopp @zeynep Your link does not work unfortunately. Can you give one that works?
Quite a few foundations there (Stiftungen).
@CD57227 @JanKlimkowski @Florin_Uncovers @DavRoeck @R_H_Ebright @emilyakopp @zeynep - Schweizerische Eidgenossenschat, Bundesamt für Kultur (BAK) (some funding if 10% is shot in Switzerland)
- Zürcher Filmstiftung
- Stiftung Volkart
- UBS Kulturstiftung
- Stiftung Corymbo
- Ernst Göhner Stiftung
@CD57227 @JanKlimkowski @Florin_Uncovers @DavRoeck @R_H_Ebright @emilyakopp @zeynep Zürcher Filmstiftung
CHF 60,000 to develop the project, on 16Mar 2021: filmstiftung.ch/die-forderung/…
@CD57227 @DavRoeck @Florin_Uncovers More details. Daszak had a work/vacation at end Oct 2022 during which he went top What Khao Ching Pan, but that was before the filming.
The filming occurred during the first two weeks of December.
Note that Daszak went vi Zurich and shared the flight to Bangkok with Markolin.
He often does that for key people: Farrar from Geneva to London in Feb 2020, Koopmans from Wuhan to Amsterdam after the 2021 WHO mission, etc.
@ebright @JanKlimkowski @Tantalite
@CD57227 @DavRoeck @Florin_Uncovers One key point is that Daszak was taking some journalists in a SEA trip at that very time, to gather support (especially related to his poached Lao samples problems with Latinne et al).
1/12 Nice article by @stephaniebenz and @yohanblavignat summarizing the situation as to the origins debate.
It captures very well the absurd cheap certitudes of the 100% zoonosis fans, and the questions that such a rush to close an existential debate raises. lexpress.fr/sciences-sante…
2/12 If asked, I would say that after the wise 50/50 position that any scientist should have initially considered, most of the developments have been towards a research-related accident, with many predictions there coming true,
3/12 On the contrary, the ground has been weakening under the zoonotic side, with demolished market papers, no animal reservoir identified, and a lot of time wasted on candidate pangolins and racoon dogs.
Flo Debarre is mentioned here as someone jumping to conclusions that are in fact essentially speculations (the whole raccoon dog saga),