The Furin-cleavage site (#FCS) in SARS-CoV-2 is one of the most misunderstood genetic elements in the whole #originsofcovid story.

#lableak proponents consider it a "pandemic trigger" that was recklessly inserted by #GoF researchers

Do they have a point?

A thread
1/ Especially an unfunded research proposal from 2018 called DEFUSE that got played up by amplifiers empowered imaginations.

So before we jump into the FCS itself, a quick sidebar here 🔽

While DEFUSE is irrelevant, it hightlights two telling misconceptions

2/

🚨🚨 Did SARS-CoV-2 come from gain-of-function research? And if so, will we ever find out?

I have been on a scientific journey for a definitive answer that took me to the cutting edge of #covidorigin science.

Here is what I found
➡️ open.substack.com/pub/protagonis…
It is fair to say that virology has been seen with suspicion and experts are distrusted.

How much of this is self-inflicted, and how much is driven by forces beyond science?

The idea of arcane gain-of-function experiments creating flask monsters is powerful, it evokes fears.

Very interesting paper from Jijón S. et al., using a population-dynamic approach (not a whole genome seq. approach) to date the first spillover event of the Wuhan outbreak

--> Nov.28

This is a methodologically independent confirmation of previously published estimates.

1/ The idea is to look at how an epidemic progresses (based on branching) and infer these dynamical parameters from known progressions

Once the model is calibrated, it can be used to estimate a time window when the first infection likely occurred; which might be before the tMRCA
2/

As 2024 ushered in a new year of myth, #manipulation & magical thinking, too few have adjusted to counterbalance the #vulnerabilities of our broken information ecosystem

During US elections, this might spell democratic backsliding as online #discourse will be weaponized

A 🧵
1/ The disruption of our information technology broke a few things we needed as guardrails for democracy, such as the free flow of information & journalistic principles for information sharing

Today, gatekeepers have changed to:
#Algorithms, #influencers & #audience demand

2/

One thing that is fascinating with the history of the #lableak myth is how many people have been fooled by naïve claims that "one can not tell from the genome" one way or the other whether this is a natural virus.

This is false.
In the case of SARS-CoV-2, there is zero doubt.
1/ People might have encountered arguments such as we can modify viruses with "no see 'um" genetic methods, or just design a sequence & synthesize whole cloth

-> this implies nobody can ever #disprove whether a new genome has been man-made, only sometimes prove that it was
2/

NEW EXCLUSIVE from me

#Disparage, #disorient, #dispute - the manipulation playbook after anti-science actors, part 3

"In the #battlespace of information, we are civilians in harm’s way."

Please read, share, and take it to heart:
open.substack.com/pub/protagonis…
The full range of tactics and why the work is summarized here. 🔽

➡️ Free-access medium version of the article here:

A thread with more details follows below

1/ protagonist-science.medium.com/disparage-diso…

This is what scientists like @PeterHotez have been screaming from the top of their lungs to anybody willing to listen to facts and reason.

Anti-science activism in public health, no matter if smoking, alternative medicine, or vaccination, comes with a gruesome body count.

https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1686724192346025984

It is not a victimless crime to mislead the public about evidence-based interventions and treatments, or selling citizens medical distrust and fake miracle cures.

It is however a lucrative business for media manipulators.

Where are the regulations and accountability?

The idea that it is up to scientists to solve #conspiracy myths around their topic of expertise, otherwise they deserve what is coming to them, is in fact anti-science and quite harmful.

Yet often #influencers point the finger directly at those injustly maligned scientists. https://t.co/LlRES8rxoQ

https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1680011708302073857

There are so many #asymmetries in our information age that #disfavor science of popular myths; but the idea that it false solely on scientists to correct the record, educate, debunk and explain themselves over and over again is unequivocally injust.

Society needs to realize ...

Predictable, despicable, intolerable.

The recent smear attacks & character assassinations on a celebrated vaccine scientist all come from the same #conspiracy myth-addled info sphere that profits from creating conflict, spectacle & exploiting the fears of vulnerable communities.

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1671976721644396557

Conspiracy theories can be #weaponized into a tool of power, wielded by demagogues and media manipulators alike to further their own strategic, ideological, financial or political goals.

Science & reason are the one defense society has against their greedy #assault.

#Information cascade alert!

The US #intelligence agencies are supposed to reveal all information they have with respect to the #OriginOfCovid

I wanted to use the opportunity to explain exactly what you will see happening in the media, no matter the content of those reports
🧵 First, let's talk about expectations.

From the get-go, it is absolutely clear that there is no #smoking gun or similar to be expected.

The intelligence services all had access to the same information and most assessments are low confidence, with 4 agencies favoring #zoonosis.

Surprise, the climate change denying, Twitter-files propagandists find themselves coming down on the #bioweapon myth too.

@shellenberger @mtaibbi are such bottom-feeding losers it would almost break my heart if they weren't as malicious & intentional in their quest for attention The alleged sick workers are neither a new nor true part of the #bioweapon mythology; it is made up BS from David Asher and the State Department under Pompeo, going back to 2020 and laundered through some unnamed intelligence sources that got wide media coverage in 2021.

At some point, every #lableak advocate can't help but go full radical. "Crime of the century", "avoidable pandemic" dogwhistle and calling for a "tribunal" based on nothing but vibes.

These people have no place in any normal society and their #lies deserve to haunt them forever. Oh look, the lackeys of actual criminals like billion-dollar-fraudster Miles Guo have no shame to lie about ordinary scientists.

@DiLiMengYAN1 everybody knows you are a liar, fraudster and exchanged you modest credentials for a media stunt by con artists.
Was it worth it?

NEW EXCLUSIVE from me:

#Distort, #discredit, #dismiss - 6 additional tactics of media manipulators and why they work to sabotage public discourse

Read:
protagonistfuture.substack.com/p/distort-disc…

Details follow:
1/ Anti-science activism never went away, it got a new ugly face in the #information age:

Quacks, gurus, contrarian doctors, fake experts, influencers, political commentators and similar media manipulators.

Previously we looked at "merchants of #doubt"

2/

https://twitter.com/PhilippMarkolin/status/1630947173473959940

Frustrating but important perspective by @PeterHotez:

"The phenomenon of red Covid was not a random occurrence but instead an expected outcome of predation linked to extremist politics"

Read in full:

A few thoughts follow 🔽
faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1096/fb… In this perspective, Dr. Hotez offers some insights on the topics I have been writing & talking about, namely the #weaponization of conspiracy #myths by political actors to attack unwelcome scientific authority in public discourse.

He first outlines the damage: Needless deaths

Guess time for the regular #PSA

SARS-CoV-2 did not originate in a lab, nor did a natural virus make a detour over the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Newspapers like @axios amplifying flat propaganda from corrupt political staffers & ideologues does not supercede scientific facts @axios As I have written previously; media manipulators push sensationalist falsehoods; these reports leaked to the press by staffers is a common trope it is almost a cliché at this point.

@axios falling for it is sad but not surprising.

But: We don't have to be manipulated.
2/

My talk at @fiocruz about the #lableak theory and the rise of #information pathogens is now freely available.

Thanks @cmmorel and @KropfSimone for this wonderful event.

Here is the youtube link to the full video with time stamps for easy accessibility:

https://twitter.com/cmmorel/status/1643262759981707265

@fiocruz @cmmorel @KropfSimone Here are some more highlights from the talk:

First: How do scientists deal with uncertainty and how can this help us inform ourselves about the most likely
#originofcovid ?

It comes down to asking P(Evidence|Hypothesis):

Fascinated by the dispute around #theoriginofcovid ?

I was invited to give a talk at Fiocruz. The event takes place in Rio de Janeiro, starting at 12:30 EDT / 5:30 pm CEST and, and will be broadcast via Zoom.

Access link can be found here tomorrow: coc.fiocruz.br/index.php/pt/t… Still working on the presentation (also, my luggage did not make it... thanks airfrance), but this will be the approximate outline of the talk:

WARNING:
There are new pathogens in our midst.

My latest article about media #manipulators, velocity #hacking, and the latest Covid origin #controversy.

Maybe some #mainstream journalists & influencers take a good look in the mirror.

Read:
protagonistfuture.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-… How much should we think about the role of information in society?

In this article, I use the recent media coverage surrounding #lableak versus #zoonosis to point toward a new threat we have not yet wrapped our heads around:

Information pathogens with high #velocity.

🚨🚨🚨 NEW EVIDENCE #zoonosis
Chinese researchers (who have had troubles getting data out) finally managed to sneak upload full #sequencing data from environmental swaps at Huanan market.

Show: Co-occurance of #animal sequences with SARS-CoV-2 RNA

Added to the evidence map 🔽 @KatherineJWu 's atlantic article first reported on this new development.

(independent reseachers have been waiting on these data to come out for over a year)

I will give some context in the next few tweets:
theatlantic.com/science/archiv…

🚨🚨🚨 @KatherineJWu first to get this scoop down.

The Chinese CDC finally uploaded market sampling data, and as expected, environmental swaps positive for SARS-CoV-2 point to raccoon dogs.

Yet another strong piece of evidence for #zoonotic origin & against any #lableak myth

https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1636485797346934784

@KatherineJWu Just to add a bit of context:

Environmental swaps were taken from the Huanan market, and that many of them tested positive was already confirmed a year ago in a pre-print from researchers at the Chinese CDC.

However, they did not make their sequencing data available and...

The incompetence US media machine is scary.
There is nothing in this article but speculation, started again by some republican stuffer document drop, no evidence of wrongdoing, but careful phrasing to obfuscate. "Somebody said they maybe found evidence of potential doublebilling" When exactly became it okay to just run with made up stories? Just because two completely different projects sometimes require spending on similar lab gear, materials or training does not mean anything was double billed. That's just ignorance about scientific work, everything...