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Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 🆓 Profile picture
@BillyBostickson
Jun 13, 2023 • 39 tweets • 20 min read • Read on X
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1. OK, the Lab leak CLUEDO game is nearing its finale

Ben Hu, Yu Ping, and Yan Zhu now identified (likely by an ex-State Department source) as the 3 sick WIV researchers in November 19.

public.substack.com/p/first-people… Image
2. We researched these particular scientists

(as we did with all WIV staff in 2020 and 2021)

3. I think everyone is familiar with Ben Hu and his work

(involving bat coronaviruses and hACE2 mice)

4. Ben Hu

There were indeed persistent and informed rumors that Ben Hu was one of the sick researchers, but unfortunately #DRASTIC was unable to access Wuhan Health Records, despite my best attempts & appeals for assistance in May 2020

5. A Million Apologies!

Unfortunately I lacked the funding necessary to pursue this undiscover work to its full extent.

I remember cursing that we did not have the meager resources of even a third world intelligence agency to support our investigations.

6. This would not have been the first time...

Back in 2017 we showed that WIV bat samplers had been scratched, bitten and infected while sampling without proper PPE

7. The 2nd named researcher, Yu Ping:

Yu Ping's PhD thesis (discovered by @TheSeeker268) describes working with Ra4991 (RaTG13) *other samples in a 'BSL-2 cabinet' via @wound_wort

In fact the whole genome sequencing for Ra4991 (RaTG13) was reported by Yu Ping in June 2019 ImageImageImageImage
8. More on Yu Ping's thesis

9. Yu Ping and Ben Hu and ZLS (2018-2019)

Geographical structure of bat SARS-related coronaviruses

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

or

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
10. Yu Ping seems to have "faded into obscurity"

11. Meanwhile, the 3rd identified researcher, Zhu Yan:

"Senior Experimentalist" at WIV has been listed as co-author on so many WIV papers.

archive.is/g9tt9 Image
12. Yan Zhu vs Yu Ping

Yan Zhu is listed as co -author with Zhengli Shi on 13 papers here:

whiov.cas.cn/sourcedb_whiov…

Search: "Zhu, Y."

but Yu Ping, Zero.... Image
13. Yan Zhu Research Profile

researchgate.net/scientific-con…
14. Beginning in 2013 (Yan Zhu, Ben Hu, etc.)

Recognize some names?

Isolation and characterization of a bat SARS-like coronavirus that uses the ACE2 receptor

nature.com/articles/natur… Image
15. 2017 (Yan Zhu & Zheng Li Shi)

Detection and genome characterization of four novel bat hepadnaviruses and a hepevirus in China

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
16. 2018 (Yan Zhu & Zhengli Shi)

Genomic Characterization of a Novel Hepatovirus from Great Roundleaf Bats in China

link.springer.com/article/10.100… Image
17. March 2018

(Yan Zhu, Lin-Fa Wang, Zheng-Li Shi, Peng Zhou)

Dampened STING-Dependent Interferon Activation in Bats

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
18. April 2018

(Yan Zhu, Peng Zhou, Daneille Anderson, Peter Daszak, Linfa Wang, ZLS, Yi Gang Tong (GX Pango Man)

Fatal swine acute diarrhoea syndrome caused by an HKU2-related coronavirus of bat origin

nature.com/articles/s4158… Image
19. October 2018

(Yan Zhu, ZLS, Ali Zohaib)

Countrywide Survey for MERS-Coronavirus Antibodies in Dromedaries and Humans in Pakistan

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
20. December 2018

(Yan Zhu, Ali Zohaib, Ben Hu, Peng Zhou, Xing Yi Ge, ZLS)

Genetic Evidence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-Cov) and Widespread Seroprevalence among Camels in Kenya

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
21. March 2019

(Yan Zhu, Danielle Anderson, Peng Zhou, Lin Fa Wang, ZLS)

Characterization of a filovirus (Měnglà virus) from Rousettus bats in China

nature.com/articles/s4156… Image
22. April 2019.

( Yan Zhu, ZLS, Ben Hu)

Characterization of a New Member of Alphacoronavirus with Unique Genomic Features in Rhinolophus Bats

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
23. October 2019.

(Yan Zhu, Ben Hu, Danielle Anderson, Lin Fa Wang, Peng Zhou, ZLS)

Serological evidence of MERS-CoV and HKU8-related CoV co-infection in Kenyan camels

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
Then the Pandemic, and just afterwards..

30th January 2020

(Yan Zhu, Peng Zhou, ZLS)

SARS coronavirus 2 WIV06 Project

ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/gwh/Assembly/9…

and the paper (usual suspects)

pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin

nature.com/articles/s4158… ImageImageImage
25. January 29th 2020

(Yan Zhu, Danielle Anderson, Zheng Li Shi, Lin Fa Wang, Peng Zhou)

Discovery of Bat Coronaviruses through Surveillance and Probe Capture-Based Next-Generation Sequencing

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
26. May 2020

(Yan Zhu et al.)

(The mysterious transgenic mice paper received on 12th March 2020, during lockdown, so mice must have been available in 2019)

Pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 in Transgenic Mice Expressing Human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32516571/ Image
27. For more on that curious paper, see here:

28. December 2020

(Yan Zhu with WIV and WIBP)

Low toxicity and high immunogenicity of an inactivated vaccine candidate against COVID-19 in different animal models

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
29. January 2021 - The most Important paper!

(Yan Zhu, Ben Hu, ZLS, Xing Yi Ge)

Characterization of Novel Rhabdoviruses in Chinese Bats

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
30. Why the most Important, you may ask?

Well you had to wait for the cracker, didn't you?

after wading through tons of Bloody Chinese Academic BAT SHITE, like I had to do for 3 bloody years!!!



Now, f@##!@#$$% READ that thread!
31. And read this as well

32. May 2021 Pre Print

(Yan Zhu, Ben Hu, ZLS)

This study identified a novel lineage of SARSr-CoVs, including RaTG15 & 7 other viruses, from bats at the same location where we found RaTG13 in 2015.

biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Later published in August 2021

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
33. March 2023

(Yan Zhu, Ben Hu, ZLS)

Isolation of ACE2-dependent and -independent sarbecoviruses from Chinese horseshoe bats

biorxiv.org/content/10.110… Image
34. Increasingly desperate Zoonati clutching at straws

brandish a well known WIV happy family photo with Ben Hu, ZLs & LFW from 15 Jan 2020 as PROOF that he could not have been infected in November 2019?

as if everyone who got infected, died or what?

35. Their Final Argument?

"But, but, Professor Shi said they tested everyone and all the results were negative..."

For example:

The origins of SARS-CoV-2: A critical review

sciencedirect.com/science/articl… ImageImage
36. That Argument was Solidly Debunked

by @quay_dr and @gdemaneuf

An analysis of the results of routine employee testing for SARS-like infections within the WIV and other Wuhan labs raises serious issues about their validity

researchgate.net/publication/35…
37. Professor Shi's Denial

A Top Virologist in China, at Center of a Pandemic Storm, Speaks Out

The virologist, Shi Zhengli, said in a rare interview that speculation about her lab in Wuhan was baseless

archive.ph/LfZN1 Image
unroll 3 sick researchers at WIV @threadreaderapp Image
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More from @BillyBostickson

Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 🆓 Profile picture
May 22
🧵1. Another Modest Proposal

This time for the Pangolin’s Noble Sacrifice!

In this enlightened year of our Lord 2025 I, a humble observer of mankind’s ceaseless quest for health, find myself much struck by the ingenious practices of the Orient..
🧵2. A Scaly Panacea

...where the pangolin, that scaly denizen of subtropical climes, hath been elevated to a panacea most wondrous.

The Baicao Chinese Medicine compendium, a veritable gospel of herbal wisdom, doth proclaim the virtues of this creature’s scales...
🧵3. Humanity's Salvation?

...harvested with a diligence that would shame the most ardent of alchemists.

I propose, therefore, a modest scheme to amplify this noble tradition, ensuring that the pangolin’s sacrifice might serve the greater good of humanity.
Read 16 tweets
Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 🆓 Profile picture
May 21
🧵🗞️The International News

A Convulsive Horizon of No Escape

Clang! Bar, far, scar, star.

Take the swarming headlines, shred them,

South Korea’s soy sauce grand master stirs

Books that don’t exist, AI’s fevered brew.

War without purpose, war crimes bite,
🧵🗞️ Clang! Crimes, limes, slimes!

EU’s chocolate crisis, cocoa beans scream!

Climate breakdown bites the fields.

The moment that changed me

a boulangerie revelation melting into Vindolanda’s stone relief

But the man in the navy suit and tie,

chokes on known unknowns.
🧵🗞️ Clang! Rice, nice, vice, dice!

Japanese minister’s rice is free, free, glee, spree,

As Trump’s tariffs tangle with toilet roll wedding lists.

No escape. The hour will no longer be ours.

Clang! Dome, home, foam, roam!
Read 38 tweets
Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 🆓 Profile picture
May 16
Some insights into our DRASTIC investigation

1. What appears wasteful research to you in the present may be of great value to you or others in the future, if it is given the time to develop to its logical end.

Don’t judge the usefulness of your findings too quickly!
2. What appears wasteful or a dead end to you..

May be of immense value to somebody else!

Don’t judge the usefulness:

1. Of other people’s findings based only on your own assessment of them.

2. Of your own findings based only on your own current assessment of them either.
3. What appears wasteful and a dead end to you..

A. May be the raw stuff that new hypotheses and new research directions are born from.

B. Don’t judge the usefulness of your "investigations" until you have given them enough time to surprise you.
Read 15 tweets
Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 🆓 Profile picture
May 13
🧵Holmes Studies "Lab Leak"🤔

1⃣ WIV

-Deliberate release of bioweapon
-Accidental release of bioweapon in development
-Lab accident during genetic engineering
-Lab accident during cell culture
-Lab accident during vaccine development
-Accidental infection that no one knew about
2⃣ WCDC

• Lab worker infected during field animal sampling
• Accident during experimental work
• Accident from exposure to infected waste
• Accident during move to new location
• WCDC gave bat samples to the WIV
3⃣ Virus engineering

•Engineered from RaTG13
•Engineered from pool of bat viruses (Laos)
•Engineered from secret database of bat viruses
•Engineered at UNC & shipped to the WIV
•Engineered hybrid of bat & pangolin viruses🐵
•Synthetic infectious clone engineered in vitro
Read 8 tweets
Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 🆓 Profile picture
May 12
🧵THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY!

1. GOOD NEWS

Thanks to @BumblebeeJoe I have 250 new followers!



Welcome aboard!

To summarize the state of affairs in my world

As you may know, I am one very hard-working🙊

12-15 hours a day investigating "lab leak"✅
🧵2. My Recent Work

I demolished Pekar et al., (2025)

x.com/BillyBostickso…

This paper is so bad it is not even wrong!

Das ist nicht einmal falsch!

(Wolfgang Pauli)

azquotes.com/author/21450-W…
🧵3. I completed my 40,000-word final report

(Possibly final..😉)

The Pangolin (Coronavirus) Papers

x.com/BillyBostickso…

I provided summaries and explainers here:

x.com/BillyBostickso…
Read 35 tweets
Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 🆓 Profile picture
May 9
“We are not a Cult”

DRASTIC and the investigative network that broke the Corona laboratory taboo

Must Read Interview!

The hard working "Two Ronnies" of DRASTIC

@gdemaneuf & @BillyBostickson

Interviewed by @franzbecchi for @berlinerzeitung

berliner-zeitung.de/politik-gesell…
1. Who are the “pandemic detectives”?

We speak with 2 of DRASTIC's prominent members:

@gdemaneuf (a data scientist & engineer)

and @BillyBostickson, longtime activist who was formerly part of opposition networks in China & HK & who operates anonymously for security reasons.
@gdemaneuf 2. My Responses

How did DRASTIC come about?

I started in January 2020, triggered by an article by Dan Sirotkin on the origins of the virus.

I connected with people like @R_H_Ebright & others on Twitter.

In May 2020, I chose the name "DRASTIC" for this decentralized group.
Read 18 tweets

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