A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
-
True, but I don't see how a passage in a mouse model would produce a virus so well adapted to humans and with that RBD. Makes no sense to me at all. I'm leaning more toward the idea that it was circulating in humans for a while but was undetected....one lineage then exploded in Wuhan.
-
That's the key here - that mouse model is using the human ACE2 receptor, so it'd be a perfect fit - plus the acquisition of furin sites during rapid passage as we discussed in the paper (as is seen for flu). Can't be dismissed out of hand as what she's saying in her answer that they were doing exactly those types of experiments. Doing that type of work with a novel (bat) CoV would constitute a non-trivial risk for sure - she does not mention whether this isBSL-2 or BSL-3, but likely the former. But I'm glad you're now leaning towards the "pre-circulation" theory - now we just need to have Andrew come around to that :wink:
-
Fair point about ACE2, but the RBD is very different to SARS-CoV. To me, if the furin cleavage site is active in cell culture then it is also likely to be active in evolution. This also means that she and and a lot of people of lying. Why admit to this stuff in interview if something dodgy had happened? Also, there is absolutely NO intelligence and NOchatter about them doing these experiments. People talk about their work and there would be no reason to cover itup then.
-
Yup, totally agree - and this to me really is becoming the strongest argument - if they were fiddling around with SARS2 prior to the pandemic, then surely something would have leaked by now? I mean, we have even hadwhistleblowers contact us! Yet, nothing - totally zero. I know China has an oppressive regime, but keeping something like that completely behind closed door just doesn't seem plausible. It's important to keep in mind that one of our arguments against animal culture just disappeared though.
-
2020-08-29 16:08
Edward C. Holmes
Well, we did say 'had not previously been described'. It has now. We were right at the time!
-
Daszak would have known and you bet he's had his emails screened.
-
Yeah, very true - actually, maybe we should file a FOIA... :wink: