Richard H. Ebright Profile picture
Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology @RutgersU @BiosafetyNow
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Mar 25 5 tweets 1 min read
"[W]e identify 8 likely laboratory-acquired-infection SARS-CoV-2 infections from June 2020 to January 2021, sequenced at the University of North Carolina Hospital…[T]he LAIs have a high probability of being SARS-CoV-2 variants actively studied at...UNC"

zenodo.org/records/150805… "[V]irologists’ position is that…creating synthetic pathogens…under appropriate Biological Safety Laboratory standards can be performed safely."

"However…laboratory-acquired infections (LAI)…occur, even under the highest BSL-3 and…BSL-4 standards."
Mar 21 4 tweets 1 min read
The 2021 WHO mission to Wuhan did not visit the WIV campus with the ramshackle BSL-2 lab where Shi and Daszak constructed and characterized novel SARS and MERS viruses.

The WHO Mission visited only the WIV NBL campus, which is located 19 km away. Daszak--who was on the 2021 WHO mission--misled the WHO mission by directing it to the WIV NBL campus instead of the WIV main campus, where Shi and he had constructed and characterized novel SARS and MERS viruses.
Mar 17 13 tweets 3 min read
Five years ago today--a month after funding-agency heads Fauci, Collins, and Farrar commissioned scientists to write a paper falsely claiming lab origin of COVID is implausible--scientists Andersen, Rambaut Lipkin, Holmes, and Garry publish a fraudulent paper making this claim. Image Private email and Slack communications of authors Andersen, Garry, Holmes, and Rambaut--made public through a Congressional inquiry--show these authors knew that the conclusions of their paper were unsound and invalid but chose, fraudulently, to proceed with publication.
Mar 15 7 tweets 1 min read
"[Former UK Science Minister Patrick] Vallance is facing increasing scrutiny over his role in suppressing the lab leak theory."

"[F]ormer minister Steve Baker said Lord Vallance 'should be fully transparent about what he knew'"

mol.im/a/14503159 "Vallance...took part in [Anthony Fauci's] teleconference in February 2020, after which...scientists began [fraudulently] dismissing the Chinese lab-leak hypothesis as implausible."
Mar 13 7 tweets 1 min read
US Court of Appeals, plaintiff's opening brief, 03/11/2025:

"EcoHealth’s direct involvement in unauthorized Gain-of-Function (GOF) virus manipulation and research at its subcontractor laboratory in Wuhan, China...caused Appellant’s injuries" Image "EcoHealth is strictly liable for Heath's injuries
under New York’s strict liability and negligence laws, given its unauthorized GOF virus manipulation and vaccine research—both ultra-hazardous activities—
conducted at its subcontractor laboratory in Wuhan, China"
Mar 11 5 tweets 1 min read
"The main reason there are dangerous pathogens…unsecured at labs [overseas]…is…US agencies…have spent billions…to construct unneeded and unsafe labs overseas…and to fund unneeded and reckless research…discovering…new dangerous pathogens…overseas"

childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/usaid… "Ebright said he found it 'ironic' that the opening first line in the Times’ article mentioned 'dangerous pathogens left unsecured at labs across Africa.'"

He said "The main reason there are dangerous pathogens left unsecured at labs across Africa, and in Asia and Latin America, is that US agencies— particularly USAID, DTRA BTRP, NIH Fogarty Center, and NIH NIAID—have spent billions of dollars over the last two decades to construct unneeded and unsafe labs overseas, and to fund unneeded and reckless research on discovering and enhancing new dangerous pathogens in labs overseas."
Jan 25 6 tweets 2 min read
German virologist Christan Drosten, a former defender of EcoHealth Alliance, abandons the sinking ship of COVID natural origin.

"The more I think about it, the more skeptical I become"

taz.de/Christian-Dros…Image "In my initial assessment of the origin of the virus, I didn't know anything about it. In 2021, with the help of the American FOIA, it was published that American scientists had already applied for research funding in 2018 for work that, in my opinion, is by no means harmless."
Jan 20 4 tweets 2 min read
Fauci violated federal policies on gain-of-function and enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research, committed conspiracy to defraud and perjury, used federal funds to commit crimes, and caused a pandemic that killed $20 million and cost $25 trillion.

The pardon is a travesty. Image Nevertheless, the pardon ends Fifth-Amendment protections for Fauci, exposing Fauci to contempt charges or perjury charges when the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee issues subpoenas compelling him to testify under oath about his crimes.
Jan 13 19 tweets 3 min read
"DEFUSE [i]s the Rosetta Stone for understanding the origin of SARS-CoV-2…[T]he entire genome of SARS-CoV-2 aligns with…DEFUSE. Almost every feature…, from the spike protein to the FCS and the…restriction sites, matches…what was outlined in…DEFUSE."

firstpost.com/world/millions… "Imagine a plane crash with…20 million…on board. After...years of searching for the black box..., you find out that someone has it but refuses to share it. Even worse, they insist...the cause is already settled...That’s...what we’re dealing with regarding...origins of Covid"
Jan 9 7 tweets 2 min read
"Dismissal of…lab leak…was always a curious stance…There were more than 300 known laboratory-acquired infections…this century. The same year...Covid erupted in Wuhan, 10,000…fell ill following leakage from a…research centre in another Chinese city."

unherd.com/2025/01/chinas… "Wuhan was home to one of China’s two maximum bio-security labs — and hundreds of miles from the nearest colonies of wild bats with most similar coronaviruses."
Jan 6 23 tweets 10 min read
COVID: updated summary of lab-origin hypothesis:

1) Pandemic caused by bat SARS-like coronavirus emerged in Wuhan--city 1000 km from wild bats with SARS-CoV-2-like coronaviruses, but that contains labs conducting world's largest research program on bat SARS-like coronaviruses. Image 2) In 2015-2017, scientists and science-policy specialists expressed concern that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was conducting and contemplating research that posed an unacceptable risk of lab accident and pandemic (nature.com/articles/natur……; nature.com/articles/natur……).
Dec 23, 2024 5 tweets 1 min read
"Potential pandemic pathogen...research conducted at an inappropriate biosafety level should be considered an abnormally dangerous activity subject to strict liability."

LASST (Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology) Amicus Brief Project
lasst.org/2024/12/23/las… "Applying a strict liability standard to an activity means that the person or entity conducting the activity will be held liable for any harm the activity caused, even if they were not negligent in conducting the activity."
Dec 9, 2024 5 tweets 1 min read
"Hundreds of vials containing live viruses have gone missing from a lab…in Australia, sparking an investigation…323 samples of live viruses—including Hendra virus, Lyssavirus and Hantavirus—went missing…in a 'serious breach of biosecurity protocols.'"

newsweek.com/deadly-virus-m… "The breach was discovered in August 2023, with nearly 100 of the missing vials containing Hendra virus, which is deadly. Two of the vials contained hantavirus, while 223 vials contained samples of lyssavirus."
Oct 28, 2024 13 tweets 2 min read
"While we may not be aware of all the instances in which Fauci funded gain-of-function experiments despite the ban, we do know of at least one hugely significant case, as it ultimately led to the creation of Covid."

truthovernews.org/p/obama-fauci-… "In 2016, Eric Stemmy, a program officer in Fauci’s NIAID found out that the experiments funded by Fauci at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, through a shady organization called EcoHealth Alliance, were creating viruses that were significantly more dangerous than…natural viruses"
Oct 17, 2024 7 tweets 1 min read
"[H]umanity will…need new governance mechanisms…to prevent the deliberate use of biological pathogens and minimize their unintentional release…They will also need to create more robust mechanisms to reduce the risks of catastrophic accidents."

carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/… "Two immediate priorities stand out. The first is strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention...The second priority is managing the biosafety and biosecurity risks of the democratization of biotechnology."
Oct 16, 2024 13 tweets 3 min read
GARDP/WHO report:

[T]he clinical pipeline for new antibacterials remains inadequate for current and future needs

[R]eturns on investment for new ‘reserve’ antibiotics do not cover research, development, registration, manufacturing, and distribution cost

cdn.who.int/media/docs/def…Image "Antimicrobial resistance remains one of the top 10 global health threats, linked to 4.95 million deaths in 2019—surpassing those from HIV or malaria. Recent global estimates suggest that resistant bacterial infections will cause 39 million deaths by 2050." Image
Image
Oct 2, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
"The WHO has acknowledged 'there is no viable market for novel antibiotics,' adding that 'the return on investment for new 'reserve' antibiotics does not cover the costs of development, manufacturing, and distribution.'"
Image "Developing a new antibiotic typically takes 10 to 15 years...Even if a product makes it to market, it is rarely profitable as these drugs are meant to be reserved as a last resort."
Sep 29, 2024 7 tweets 2 min read
"Boris Johnson: "The awful thing about the whole Covid catastrophe is that it appears to have been entirely man-made in all its aspects…It now looks overwhelmingly likely that the mutation was the result of [a] botched experiment in a Chinese lab."

inews.co.uk/opinion/boris-…
Image "The…case…has grown steadily stronger with each crumb of evidence. There was always valid suspicion over a pandemic erupting in…city that is home to the world’s foremost research lab for Sars…viruses, especially when it was found to have known concerns over safety practices."
Sep 25, 2024 28 tweets 4 min read
"The Wuhan Institute of Virology’s chief American collaborator leveraged connections in Anthony Fauci’s inner circle to survive federal scrutiny and keep millions in public funding flowing without turning over key data, new records show."

usrtk.org/covid-19-origi… "Hundreds of documents—emails obtained under FOIA lawsuits or congressional subpoena, as well as congressional interview transcripts—show Fauci’s institute protected EcoHealth Alliance, which collaborated on novel coronavirus discovery and engineering projects with the Wuhan lab"
Sep 19, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
Letter to Cell: "Crits-Christoph et al. 2024 has unsound premises, has unsound conclusions, and may be a product of scientific misconduct. We urge Cell to issue an Expression of Editorial Concern for this paper and to initiate…investigation of this paper for possible retraction" Image Link for full text of letter to Cell:
biosafetynow.substack.com/p/crits-christ…
Sep 14, 2024 23 tweets 4 min read
""We may never know the full story of the pandemic's origin. But if this were a bureaucratic whodunit, the most likely suspect would be Fauci. COVID-19 was Fauci's pandemic."

reason.com/2024/09/14/fau… "The evidence is not fully conclusive. But it seems…likely…Fauci pushed for what his peers repeatedly said was dangerous research, that some of that dangerous research produced a deadly viral pathogen that escaped the lab, and that Fauci helped cover up…its origins."