Thread by @R_H_Ebright

"Wuhan Institute of Virology manipulated a coronavirus to generate..10,000 times the viral load, violating provisions of its NIH contract that forbade unregulated research that could make a disease significantly more dangerous or transmissible."

rollcall.com/2021/10/22/nih…

"The information was revealed this week in a letter from the NIH to House Republicans. NIH said the nonprofit partner, EcoHealth Alliance, must submit any unpublished data to the agency by Monday to come back into compliance with its NIH grant. "

"NIH’s letter states..EcoHealth violated..provision in its contract requiring a report..should..viruses in its experiment produce 'a 1 log increase in growth.' In other words, EcoHealth was not supposed to enhance a virus’s ability to grow by..factor of 10 without notifying NIH."

"EcoHealth, working with the Wuhan lab, created novel coronaviruses that enhanced viral growth by 1,000-fold to 10,000-fold, orders of magnitude greater than the limit that should have triggered further NIH review, according to agency documents made public in recent weeks."

"The increase in viral load, which is closely tied to transmissibility, also resulted in more severe disease in mice in some cases."

"'It’s critical that the US government develops robust oversight mechanisms for gain-of-function research..', including at HHS and other parts of the interagency,” said Jaime Yassif, senior fellow for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative"

"'I would have flagged this project,' said Yassif. 'Looking at the experiment of concern that’s highlighted in the letter, it appears to me as gain-of-function research, even before the 'one log' requirement.'"

Angela Rasmussen: "Withholding data from the government agency that funds your work with taxpayer dollars does not engender trust. Federal research grants are not an entitlement. Failing to comply with oversight measures put into place largely for safety reasons is inexcusable"