Thread by @ReusVisser

Tom Cowan has published a small booklet BREAKING THE SPELL, to change our opinion about virology - which his previous book THE CONTAGION MYTH apparently and to his dismay failed to accomplish. He also wants to answer some of the criticism he received. 1/n
drtomcowan.com/blogs/blog/my-…

Summarizing the thesis of his book he claims that modern virology rests on three tenets: (1) cytopathic effects prove the existence of viruses, (2) viruses can be observed under a microscope and (3) the entire genome of a virus can be sequenced through an alignment process. 2/n

These three pillars of virology are questioned by Cowan. Following (unpublished) research done by Stefan Lanka he claims that both mock-infected and infected cultures show the cytopathic effect, which logically would rule out the existence and effect of hypothetical viruses. 3/n

However, the internet overflows with photos of both mock-infected and infected viral cultures that show marked differences, so either all the researchers of the world don't know how to mock-infect, Lanka has fabricated his results to prove his claim. 4/n virologydownunder.com/sigh-yes-the-c…

Regarding the second claim, that viruses can be observed under a microscope, Cowan argues that whatever is observed under a microscope cannot be distinguished from normal cellular particles like exosomes. He finds papers conceding this difficulty, but this is cherry picking. 5/n

Cowan totally goes off the rails when he tries to discredit the third belief, that viral genomes can be sequenced, again relying on Lanka's research. Lanka supposedly demonstrated that any viral genome can be assembled from any culture, even if it doesn't contain any virus. 6/n

Again, this would mean that either all the researchers of the world don't know what they are doing when sequencing viral genomes, or Lanka is fabricating his results (he has yet to publish his protocol). As I have argued, this claim is unfounded even on theoretical grounds. 7/n

What is more, Cowan repeats the claim popular in conspiracy circles that PCR tests are not virus-specific at all, but just respond to generic genetic material found in all humans (be it of bacterial or human origin). He quotes a paper from the suspicious Off-Guardian website. 8/n

If that were really the case, the percentage of positive PCR tests would be very high indeed, close to 100%, and much higher then these turn out to be in practice (this percentage ranges from 0 to about 25% depending on the population tested). So this is patent nonsense. 9/n

Cowan also repeats the common conspiracy that governments can manipulate the percentage of positive PCR tests by fiddling with the number of cycles. More cycles, more positive tests. This is definitely not the case. Tom Cowan clearly lives in a la-la-land of his own making. 10/n

Having eliminated the existence of viruses and hence the cause of the current pandemic, Cowan needs to present his alternative view of human health. He refers to maverick scientists Harold Hillman and Gilbert Ling, for "they are the two best biologists who have ever lived." 11/n

Following these two, Cowan denies most of modern cell theory and even denies the existence of ribosomes (where proteins are assembled). So where do proteins come from? "In answering these questions, we come to the essence of the split between the old versus the new biology." 12/n

Believe it or not, but Cowan claims proteins are not coded by DNA, and manufactored in the cell's ribosomes, but are created by ever-present water, which gets informed by "everything from chemicals, hormones, electromagnetic frequencies and toxins to thoughts and feelings." 13/n

This "new biology of water" is inspired by a woman named Veda Austin, who, following the trail of Masaru Emoto, has demonstrated with many impressive photos that ordinary frozen water can pick up moods and remember highly specific information. 14n vedaaustin.com

Based on all this colorful information, Cowan advises us to lead a natural life, connect with nature, avoid the virtual world, especially radiation, eat real food and drink water, when "structured", buy his many vitamin supplements and above all believe in a higher power. 15/n

Now, there is nothing wrong with leading a natural life and eating healthy food. But why would we have to deny most of modern medical and virological science for that? That hardly seems to be holistic or integrative to me. This is health extremism erring to the other side. 16/n

Ironically, the book starts with a disclaimer: "The information contained herein should NOT be used as a substitute for the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician..." Tom Cowan, remember, got his license revoked in December 2020. 17/n calmatters.org/health/2021/02…

In fact, most if not all licensed physicians will have a good laugh when they read about Tom Cowan's dopey medical theories. It is only by misreading and strawmanning modern genomics that he, Lanka and Kaufman can pretend that these notions have some amount of credibility. 18/n

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