AlleBurgers Profile picture
Nov 2 22 tweets 11 min read
Lab Accidents and Gain-of-Function: “An Engineered Doomsday.” (New York Times)

"Someone finally convinced me to do something really, really stupid,” virologist Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, told Scientific American in 2011."
1\
"Fouchier and Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, had separately tweaked the H5N1 virus — an influenza that primarily infects birds — in a way that made it spread more easily in ferrets."
2\ Image
"H5N1 is a prime pandemic candidate, and ferrets are often used as proxies for humans in flu experiments.

The two scientists were planning to publish papers making a blueprint available to the world.

The outcry was extreme."
3\
"The scientists were trying to better understand H5N1 in order to prevent a pandemic, but critics worried that their experiments could instead cause one — or provide would-be bioterrorists with an outbreak manufacturing guide."
4\
"In 2012, Kawaoka, Fouchier, and others voluntarily agreed to pause the transmissibility work.

The debacle prompted an overhaul of policies, now being reconsidered in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, governing work with so-called gain-of-function research of concern."
5\
The story is well known. And yet, what happened next has never been reported in its entirety.

Early on, Fouchier told Science that he had created “probably one of the most dangerous viruses you can make.”
6\
"After controversy broke out, Fouchier and his supporters shifted to downplaying the danger.

In early 2013, flu scientists ended their voluntary pause, arguing that when the research was done at enhanced biosafety level 3, or BSL3+, the benefits outweighed the risks."
7\
"Then, months later, Kawaoka’s lab saw two accidents involving lab-generated flu viruses, just one week apart."
8\
A jump to today.

"The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity has been called reconsidering the P3CO policy, along with a policy on dual-use research." (biosafety, biosecurity, pjs)
9\
"The NSABB has a fraught history, and its members are appointed by National Institute of Health (NIH) itself, with an inherent conflict of interest in having a group appointed by an agency to review that agency’s work.”
10\
"At NSABB meetings in April and September 2022, tensions ran high. At stake is not just the future of gain-of-function research, but the safety of the world."
11\
"Lost in the discussion is the fact that one of the labs that set off the gain-of-function issue actually has had accidents involving modified H5N1..."

And we don't know nothing about Fouchier's/Koopmans' Erasmus Rotterdam lab. No transparancy, nothing as far as we can see.
12\
"Some biosafety advocates say..a broad..overhaul is needed. 'As long asl..oversight is strictly advisory and no[t]..enforceable.., nothing..will move forward—particularly so long as..oversight is housed in an institution that performs and funds research,' said Ebright."
13\ Image
"For the rest of the world, how the US regulates research..matters. 'The US has a special responsibility when it comes to oversight and getting it right,' (F. Lentzos), an expert on biosecurity..at King’s College London..'It is..where most of this research takes place.'"
14\
"'We should be brave enough to say that some experiments should not be done,” said Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris who supported restrictions on controversial gain-of-function research in the wake of the 2011 studies."
15\
"Because such work accounts for a small proportion of biomedical science, he argued, 'This is not an attack on the scientific system. It is about protecting the integrity of the scientific system and society as a whole.'"
16\
Ht @R_H_Ebright Board of Governors, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology @RutgersU, New Jersey, USA.


17\
@AlleBurgers
U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE  27.10.22
"An Analysis of the Origins of the COVID-19 Pandemic."

Tussentijdse rapport over de mogelijke oorsprong van SARS-CoV-2.
20\

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with AlleBurgers

AlleBurgers Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AlleBurgers

Nov 4
1\
WEEK 43 CORONA
#Oversterfte 28-10-2022

CBS:446† (+1% pw)
AB:  794† (+ 1% pw)
Pandemie: >91.000†  RIP

• Exponentiële daling door vakanties
• Snelle ontwikkeling varianten
• Geen reactie Rutte/Kuipers
• Internationale afwijzing NL-beleid

Vooruitzicht: ZEER RISICOVOL Image
2a\
Op kortere termijn zal de ziektelast, zorgdruk, en oversterfte stijgen door:

1. Riool-RNA-meting daalt naar 768 (31-10), een halveringstijd van ca 13 dagen... (zie fig). Image
2b\
... R-riool is weliswaar gedaald naar 0,84 (26-10). Echter, de verwachte ontwikkeling zal weer exponentieel stijgen. Vakanties spelen een zeer sterke rol bij risico infectieverspreiding door superspreading via scholen...

Fig ht @covid_nl ImageImage
Read 28 tweets
Nov 3
WERELDWIJDE CONSENSUS COVID.
Over specifieke acties voor de verdere bedreiging van de volksgezondheid.
#endCOVID19 artikel @Nature

Multidisciplinair panel van 386 academici, gezondheids-, NGO-, overheids-, en andere experts uit 112 landen/regio's.

go.nature.com/3NtcfCM
1\
"Na bijna drie jaar gefragmenteerde mislukte wereldwijde en nationale reacties, is het nu tijd voor actie vanuit de hele samenleving.

Actie met bewezen preventiemaatregelen voor de volksgezondheid, en met financiële steunmaatregelen, als aanvulling op vaccinatie."
2\ Image
“Tot september 2022 zijn er meer dan 620 miljoen officiële gevallen van COVID-19 en meer dan 6,5 miljoen doden gemeld, hoewel schattingen van het sterftecijfer oplopen ..."

Zo schatten @AlleBurgers ea ~31mln oversterfte en ~310mln longcovid.
3\
Read 14 tweets
Oct 7
1\34
WEEKBERICHT 39
CORONA #Oversterfte
Week 39 30-09-2022

CBS:    302† (+70% pw)
AB:      637† (+25% pw)
Pandemie: ~ 88.000†  RIP

Reactie Kuipers is te laat, exponentiële groei nauwelijk nog te stoppen.

Vooruitzicht: ZEER RISICOVOL

Bron: @falsel_net @AlleBurgers (AB)
2\
Ca 10e golf: exponentiële groei met exponent/reproductiegetal verder sterk stijgend naar 1,5

NB werkelijke infecties zijn > 5-10x aantal getesten (Lancet Covid Cie/AB)

Aantal positief getest 04-10-2022 (RIVM)
Dag: +  3.843
Wk:   +19.031 (+55%)

Ht @BDDataplan
3\
Riool RNA-metingen zijn relatief hoog (1.342). De groeicijfers zijn momenteel ca 4% per dag (fig). een verdubbeltijd van ca17 dagen.

Ook de Riool-R komt eveneens uit op ca 1,5.

Al met al is het vooruitzicht:
ZEER RISICOVOL

Fig ht @covid_nl
Read 36 tweets
Oct 5
1\n
Letter to WHO, Dr. Tedros

By international group of leading researchers in pandemic outbreak management.

About the 2nd SAGO-WHO mission to Wuhan; the position of Marion Koopmans, 2021

Nothing changed; no transparancy, no accountability.
⬇️ researchgate.net/publication/35…
2\
1. ... using language indicating a lack of openness to all credible (outbreak, AB) hypotheses.

2. Some nominees also seem to have conflicts of interests which have the potential to sap the credibility of SAGO.
3\
By conflict of interest, we mean here individuals whose funding and research activities could be significantly curtailed if the origin of the Covid-19 outbreak was found to be research-related.
Read 11 tweets
Sep 30
1\n
WEEKBERICHT 38
CORONA #Oversterfte
Wk 38 23-09-2022

CBS: 176† (18%)
AB:   508† (72%)
Pandemie: ~ 87.000†  RIP

Reactie Kuipers is te laat, dus doorgaande exponentiële groei.

Vooruitzicht: ZEER RISICOVOL

Bron: @falsel_net @AlleBurgers (AB) Human Mortality Database. Image
2\
10e golf: exponentiële groei met reproductiegetal verder stijgend naar 1,5

NB werkelijke infecties zijn > 5x aantal getesten (The Lancet Covid19 Cie)

Aantal positief getest 27-09-2022 (RIVM)
Dag: +   2.614
Wk:   +12.269 (+39%)

Ht @roelgrif en @BDDataplan
3\
Nieuwe ziekenhuisopnames zijn hoog (sinds half aug); ook de kliniekbezetting is weer hoog (sinds eind aug).

Stijging is enorm (+72%).

Fig ht @roelgrif Image
Read 23 tweets
Sep 27
1\
Wat Hebben We Geleerd over Long Covid?

V1. Zit het tussen de oren?

A1 Nee, er is echte fysieke schade.

ht @yaneerbaryam
Zie ook: 'Wat is Long Covid?' via @TheWHN en alleburgers.nl
alleburgers.nl/long-covid/#Tr…
2\
V2. Is het zeldzaam?

A2. Nee, het treft 25%, en zelfs degenen zonder symptomen hebben orgaanschade, en ook acute incidenten zoals hartaanvallen en beroertes, evenals cognitief verlies.
3\
V3. Gaat het weg?

A3. Nee, het duurt jaren, sommigen worden beter, de meeste worden niet helemaal beter.
Read 22 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(