Thread by @WashburneAlex

I want to briefly apologize to all the people who only know me via Twitter.

I've been using this platform to share knowledge & science about the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

This topic hits me personally because I was on a DARPA PREEMPT team pre-COVID

1/

The most important piece of evidence supporting lab origin theories is a 2018 grant - the DEFUSE grant - proposed to the DARPA PREEMPT call.

The grant proposed to modify bat SARS CoVs in exactly the ways SARS-CoV-2 is modified.



2/documentcloud.org/documents/2106…

DARPA rejected the proposal because DEFUSE proposed to make viruses that weren't found in nature with the knowledge that the viruses they made could be better able to bind human receptors and enter human cells, thus more transmissible & potentially pandemic.

3/

While DARPA rejected the proposal in 2018 (consistent with my experience with DARPA as an outstanding group with strong guardrails & good risk-assessment) that doesn't mean the research didn't proceed.

NIAID, for example, approved GOF research on SARS-CoVs in Wuhan in 2016

4/

The grant in question - "Understanding the risk of bat coronavirus emergence" - becomes very important.

Ongoing contracts for Peter Daszak through NIAID provided one means to subsidize the relatively inexpensive gain of function research of concern proposed in DEFUSE.

5/

Outside DEFUSE, we see these specific authors linked together two other times.

-Oct 2019 to discuss SARS CoVs with NIAID

-Feb 2020 conspiring to organize an article calling lab-origin theories "conspiracy theories" and not author it, to "maximize an independent voice"

6/

Incidentally, in another line of April 2020 communications we see Peter Daszak emphasizing, with high importance, that his wildlife virology collaborators not publish "China Genbank Sequences" that were part of his terminated NIH/NIAID grant mentioned above.

7/

In the NIH grant's 2018 progress report obtained via FOIA, we see clear evidence of gain of function research of concern on bat SARS CoVs

The increased viral titers reported match the effect size of DEFUSE's proposed furin cleavage site insertion.



8/

https://twitter.com/WashburneAlex/status/1637866938943823872

I started this thread off with an apology.

I feel bad because some people on here may think this is all I think about or talk about, and this topic is stressful.

Maintaining my independent voice has burnt bridges with the wildlife virology community.

9/

I've even been asked by people on my DARPA PREEMPT team to never mention my role on a DARPA PREEMPT team.

I think the behavior of this community has been very disappointing. I feel a civic duty to use my science to inform people about public research activities they funded

10/

I apologize for always coming in hard on this topic. I hate that so few people are independent on COVID origins

I hate that simply following my sincere scientific beliefs from using the entirety of my interdisciplinary expertise can be cause for alienation in science.

11/

I'm self-aware that COVID origins is contentious and that many people within science, including many with power (e.g. at NIAID, or virologists deciding who in the field will give a talk), judge me negatively because I choose to stand up and speak up on this topic.

12/

However, if I died tomorrow, I would die with no regrets.

Had I kept my insights and expertise to myself, and said nothing about the likely lab origin of a virus that killed 20 million people, I would regret it for the rest of my life. It would eat me alive.

13/

So, I'm sorry for pushing so hard on this topic

I'll shut up when I see the facts of the matter accurately represented in the public & scientific domains and I see more trustworthy, independent investigations into this matter conducted by people with the requisite expertise

14/

P.S. to the best of my knowledge, the only other person in this small pre-COVID wildlife virology community who has spoken up has been former EHA VP @AGHuff

Andrew is a scientific and morally courageous brother from another mother. He knows what he's talking about on this topic.

P.P.S. when I'm not tweeting about one of the most depressing topics in human history, I'm usually out climbing. I hope we all cross paths in the hills

Life is beautiful when we live it well. For me, living well unfortunately means being honest & speaking up about some sad stuff