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Slack / Private Message Drop, p.309 [SLACK_000523] · slack_pm:msg:03240

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Yes - it was Ian. Talked to him a few times over the year.

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2020-12-13 11:11 Kristian G. Andersen open

That's a bit of a weird article - a mishmash of things. And of course - not knowing the name of the journal AND the difference between East and West Africa... Well - one gotta wonder how much research went into it.
2020-12-13 11:41 Andrew Rambaut open

It is weird - I talked to a different Guardian journalist about the scientists working on Covid. That piece is coming outon Tuesday. Never talked to anyone about this one so she obviously just picked it up 2nd hand.
2020-12-13 11:48 Robert F. Garry open

All true - weird - what's troubling is that it's largely based on the WHO spokesperson- usually the journalist will fact check with a scientist they've talked too [I'll typically get a follow-up or two with the journalist or a fact-checker from the NYTimes etc]. Obviously, did not happen here. What's also obvious is that the DRASTIC krewe, Bannon/Yan/Chan, the Republican party, the GMO activists, Relman, etc have kept the lab-based origin theory aliveand dare I say popular.
2020-12-13 12:27 Edward C. Holmes open

It feels very 2nd hand. I never talked to them. Was it Ian Sample you talked to Andrew? I spoke to him (via email) aswell.
2020-12-13 13:21 Andrew Rambaut

Yes - it was Ian. Talked to him a few times over the year.