Alina Chan Profile picture
Nov 5, 2021 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
If the problem with some lab leak proponents is that they’re “just asking questions”, then the problem with some natural spillover proponents is that they “don’t ask questions”.

From day 1, some believed SARS2 must’ve come from a market, everything else could not be questioned.
The amount of misinfo coming from both sides has been comparable, but in-field experts should be held to a higher standard because their word is taken at face value by journalists and the public.

Yet we have seen zero accountability for the misinformation spread by some experts.
Have any of the experts who cast the lab origin hypothesis as a conspiracy theory taken any responsibility for their anti-scientific statements?

Have any of the journalists misled by them gone back to these experts and said wtf?
Probably a good time to start going through the numerous articles in 2020 and even 2021, published by top media outlets quoting Peter Daszak and friends without question, to start adding much needed clarifications on the EcoHealth’s COIs re: the #OriginOfCovid
Many of the COIs we’ve seen are not even slightly nebulous. Many of the #OriginOfCovid advisors and investigators have strong financial, personal, professional, reputational interests in making sure this virus didn’t come from a lab.
Somehow it has recently upgraded to “let’s not investigate the #OriginOfCovid because the world can’t handle knowing that the virus likely came from a lab”

I find this more honest than “lab leak is a conspiracy theory” but still anti-scientific.
Stop reassuring each other that the #OriginOfCovid will never be found.

Some people might already know the origin but need to wait for a safer time to blow the whistle.

Let’s focus on making best efforts to investigate and also make pathogen research safer.
It doesn't help that, in July, 40+ science orgs wrote:

"We urge [Congress] to reject attempts to impose restrictions on federally funded research or the operations of federal science agencies based on premature conclusions about how the pandemic emerged." asm.org/Articles/Polic…
There are some scientists who will refuse to implement new framework+oversight over risky pathogen research until someone shows them an authenticated video from 2019 of a tube labeled SARSrCoV with novel FCS spilling directly into the mouth of a scientist in Wuhan.

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More from @Ayjchan

Dec 23
Peter Daszak, who partnered with the Wuhan lab that likely caused the pandemic and is being debarred by HHS, continues to chair @NASEM_Health's forum on microbial threats.

Daszak's forum is hosting @theNASEM workshop on the future emergence of pathogens.
nationalacademies.org/event/43921_01…
@NASEM_Health @theNASEM The event disclaimer and website make no mention of Daszak's involvement in this event or any conflicts of interest. Image
@NASEM_Health @theNASEM This echoes Daszak's behind-the-scenes coordination of the infamous letter in @TheLancet casting lab #OriginOfCovid as a conspiracy theory without disclosing his conflicts of interest.

Read the story about this letter in @theintercept
theintercept.com/2021/09/23/cor…
Read 7 tweets
Dec 22
In 2020, leading virologists deceived a @nytimes journalist, resulting in NYT dropping the lab leak hypothesis.

Years later, these virologists continue to deny their perfidy while attacking experts like @sigridbratlie who call out their deception.
telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/0…
@nytimes @sigridbratlie At the @USFHealth Covid meeting, natural #OriginOfCovid proponents exalted one of these virologists.

Thankfully @ewinsberg read out the slack messages of these virologists which completely contrasted with their public stance.
@nytimes @sigridbratlie @USFHealth @ewinsberg Some consider the lies of leading virologists as indirect evidence for a lab #OriginOfCovid e.g. see the end of this anonymous analysis on youtube.

Why are some smart virologists making so many claims they should know are false?
Read 6 tweets
Dec 22
I gave a 15min talk on a likely laboratory #OriginOfCovid at @USFHealth's @HdxAcademy meeting on hotly debated Covid topics earlier this month. The exchange with natural origin proponents and Q&A are worth watching. The recording is available now: digitalcommons.usf.edu/usfcovid/2024/…
@USFHealth @HdxAcademy The meeting covered other topics including lockdowns, vaccines, and public health messaging. I left the meeting with my mind changed on one topic - a sign of high quality scientific exchanges on issues that remain unresolved.
@USFHealth @HdxAcademy Several talks recalled the panic in the early days of the pandemic, especially in hospitals overwhelmed by covid cases. In crisis, public health decisions & messaging were often developed in echo chambers and not based on science.
Read 9 tweets
Nov 27
National Academy of Sciences president @Marcia4Science says "NAS stands ready, as it always has, to advise the incoming administration."

How does @theNASciences plan to advise the new gov on #OriginOfCovid and research that can start pandemics?
science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
@Marcia4Science @theNASciences In Feb 2020, @theNASEM convened 3 of the most highly conflicted experts to advise the US gov on #OriginOfCovid

They were Peter Daszak & Ralph Baric who collaborated with the Wuhan lab, and Kristian Andersen who published Proximal Origin. nationalacademies.org/news/2020/02/n…
@Marcia4Science @theNASciences @theNASEM What reassurance do we have now that @theNASEM @theNASciences are capable of convening experts without glaring conflicts of interest to advise the incoming administration on scientific issues?
Read 6 tweets
Sep 15
Accidentally swore and got bleeped on my live interview with On Point @MeghnaWBUR while discussing why lab #OriginOfCovid must be investigated and why scientists must not lie or obfuscate the truth for political reasons.
wbur.org/onpoint/2024/0…
@MeghnaWBUR Meghna did an excellent job putting the arguments of natural #OriginOfCovid proponents to me so I could refute them directly in the interview.

The scientific evidence does not support a double spillover of the virus at the Wuhan market.
@MeghnaWBUR Those who condemn platforming the lab #OriginOfCovid hypothesis refuse to participate in a joint interview with me.

They say it's because they do not want to legitimize a lab origin but I believe it's because their arguments cannot withstand informed scrutiny.
Read 6 tweets
Jun 19
I respect Dr Fauci's decades of service in gov. Being in charge during a pandemic is no small challenge & no one can lead for so long without making mistakes. However, it needs to be said that Dr Fauci has not surrounded himself with wise & honest people regarding #OriginOfCovid
These are the virologists & experts he trusted on #OriginOfCovid

In their private messages in early 2020, they mocked other virologists for not being able to predict their own lab leaks & misled a @nytimes journalist asking about a potential lab origin.
These experts published an influential letter 'The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2' that was used widely to shut down questions about a lab leak.

In private, they wrote that evidence against a lab leak was not strong and speculated on genetic engineering.
wsj.com/articles/the-c…
Read 10 tweets

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