Chat message

Slack / Private Message Drop, pp.539-540 [SLACK_000753] · slack_pm:msg:05622

Date: 2021-02-22 08:59
Type: chat message · slack
recipient: Kristian G. Andersen, Robert F. Garry, Edward C. Holmes
speaker: Andrew Rambaut
Topics: Intelligence community assessments

Recipients on this medium are inferred from channel membership, not per-message addressing.

I agree about the zoonosis as a route from things like bats into humans especially as these mustelids seem such good models for humans. But I just can't get excited about animal transmission as a source of variants.

Extracted statements

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Statement	Grade	Attribution	Stance
I agree about the zoonosis as a route from things like bats into humans especially as these mustelids seem such good models for humans.	own voice, substantive	speaker_own	acknowledges

Statement

Grade

Attribution

Stance

I agree about the zoonosis as a route from things like bats into humans especially as these mustelids seem such good models for humans.

own voice, substantive

speaker_own

acknowledges

In context

A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.

2021-02-22 08:48 Andrew Rambaut open

You can't have a 'natural' bioweapon - by definition
2021-02-22 08:51 Kristian G. Andersen open

Hah, good point.
2021-02-22 08:51 Andrew Rambaut open

Also I don't think that a human virus getting into mink is a particularly risky think other than potentially exposing more people or creating a reservoir. It isn't going to get more human adapted.
2021-02-22 08:53 Kristian G. Andersen open

I don't know - having a parallel epizootic with god knows what kind of selection pressures operating is to be avoidedat all cost. Mink farming is typically also associated with other farming - creating risks of further epizootics.
2021-02-22 08:59 Andrew Rambaut

I agree about the zoonosis as a route from things like bats into humans especially as these mustelids seem such good models for humans. But I just can't get excited about animal transmission as a source of variants.
2021-02-22 09:01 Andrew Rambaut open

Would need to be some funky epistatic interactions to get somewhere that is not readily reachable in humans in the first place.
2021-02-22 09:25 Robert F. Garry open

I'd like to see how Dougless and prePhil do in minks/ferrets - are they like the monkeys? Also not having mink farmsis not going to change "quality of life" for anyone except people like Ivanka and of course the mink farmers. Raise ferrets instead and let's use them to figure out better Cov/flu vaccines and drugs.
2021-02-22 09:51 Robert F. Garry open

@Kristian Andersen The T372A change is in the CTD, it does not likely interact with ACE2 at any level so I don't think it's in the RBD per se. Maybe this is just me. But *YES* indeed look at N519H/K [lot's of aspartic acid andhistadine mutations popping up in variants - just like in the flu adaptations btw]. Good spot @Kristian Andersen It'ssymmetrical with the T372. What are these two changes doing you might ask? If I had to guess it has to do with the"flipping up" of the CTD to better expose the RBD. Spike exists in two confirmations: closed (CTD down) and open (CTD flipped up) - it would surprising to me if both of these changes didn't favor "open." [shared file(s): image.png]
2021-02-22 10:01 Kristian G. Andersen open

@Kristian Andersen Ohhh, interesting. Hmmm - some functional stuff here would be cool...

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