Thread by @EduEngineer

1. Is #GainOfFunction even possible for a robust quasi-species swarm?

A thread...

2. Of course, there is obvious conflict between a viruses ability to propagate and its ability to harm its host. So, it is not shocking that most of the time, harm is limited to the elderly and immunocompromised.

3. Combining the ability to do both might require elongating a genetic sequence, meaning that it would not even be possible to build it from a genetic backbone, as many of us suspect took place with SARS-CoV-2 (and others).

roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/what-about-t…

4. This is not simply a matter of "finding the code" as the brute force task is essentially impossible. This is a "Monkeys at typewriters" problem.
roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/monkeys-typi…

5. But suppose that I'm wrong, and GoF is something not confined simply to infectious clones, as @jjcouey believes. Let us consider what else that would imply...

roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/sars-cov-2-o…

6. A far easier task than adding functionality that halts the ability of a virus to propagate is to remove functionality that is not particularly relevant to viral propagation! I'll call this Loss of Function (LoF).
joshketry.substack.com/p/gain-of-func…

7. And if LoF were so easily performed, it seems likely that we would see releases of manmade viruses not to kill lots of people, but to inoculate them. Is such research performed?
nature.com/articles/s4146…

8. Oh dear...here we go with genetic hydridization and #ClimateChange. Will AGW be the driver to fund the military-science complex?

nature.com/articles/s4155…

9. But to answer the LoF research question, the answer is "yes", at least qualified by a large body of peer-reviewed scientific literature that you're not allowed to discuss without wearing the saintly tassels and uniform.

nature.com/search?q=loss+…

10. But this brings us back to the primary question: Can robust LoF quasi-species swarms be engineered?

If no, then almost surely GoF swarms cannot be either.

If yes, then the military-industrial-corporate-government-academic complex has some #AssholeSplaining to do about why… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…