Slack / Private Message Drop — page 167

[2020-09-14 23:36:42] [Andrew Rambaut] Just saw this - ```In fact, a Chinese BSL-3 lab (the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre), which published a Nature article reporting a conflicting close phylogenetic relationship between SARS- 35 36 CoV-2 and ZC45/ZXC21 rather than with RaTG13 , was quickly shut down for "rectification" . It is believed that the researchers of that laboratory were being punished for having disclosed the SARS-CoV-2--ZC45/ZXC21 connection.``` They don't notice that that you are on that paper, Eddie? [2020-09-14 23:37:57] [Eddie Holmes] So, am I in the conspiracy or not? [2020-09-14 23:38:55] [Eddie Holmes] The rectification was for publishing the sequence, not the link to ZC45. [2020-09-14 23:40:00] [Kristian Andersen] Well, they do cite your CV, so there's that. [2020-09-14 23:40:20] [Eddie Holmes] Do I get a citation? [2020-09-14 23:40:29] [Kristian Andersen] Oh yes [2020-09-14 23:40:42] [Eddie Holmes] I'm all for it then. [2020-09-14 23:41:07] [Andrew Rambaut] Ooh. Just saw this bit: ```Since many phylogenetic analyses categorize coronaviruses based on the sequence similarity of the RdRp gene only SARS-CoV-2 and ZC45/ZXC21 are separated into different groups/sub-lineages in phylogenetic studies.``` So they are saying 'they' used RdRp from a different virus to confuse phylogenetics! [2020-09-14 23:41:16] [Kristian Andersen] shared file(s): Screen Shot 2020-09-14 at 11.40.57 PM.png [2020-09-14 23:41:43] [Andrew Rambaut] Then they constructed RaTG13 with that RdRp as well to act as a decoy. [2020-09-14 23:41:47] [Eddie Holmes] Fuck, that's cunning. [2020-09-14 23:41:56] [Andrew Rambaut] But forgot to put the RBD or furin site in.