Slack / Private Message Drop — page 949

[2021-06-19 16:03:51] [Robert Garry] "Finally, both plausible putative progenitors require that an early mutation to SARS-CoV-2 was a reversion towards the bat coron- avirus outgroups (either C18060T or C29095T) on a branch that subsequently gave rise to multiple distinct descendants." WAIT is this true - I thought WA1 was T18060 so bat-like. [2021-06-19 16:10:02] [Eddie Holmes] Well, Jesse has gone full-on conspiracy. I can well imagine people deleting data because they were shit scared what the state would do to them. And he's right that China want to control the message on origins...they are particularly keen that it is not China. [2021-06-19 16:13:44] [Andrew Rambaut] What does he think they were trying to cover up? That there was something that was one SNP closer to a bat virus that hadn't even been sequenced by then? [2021-06-19 16:13:59] [Andrew Rambaut] Unless it was !!! [2021-06-19 16:18:30] [Eddie Holmes] Yes, and it would mean that someone did in China did some very detailed analysis very quickly and spotted this themselves. I can't see that they data deletion is specific to what the data actually says. [2021-06-19 16:22:43] [Robert Garry] He's not overthinking this - Chinese scientist deletes sequences - holy shit it's a cover-up - must be a lab leak. [2021-06-19 16:24:50] [Robert Garry] that was the fox news - murdock version coming to a tv screen near you very soon... [2021-06-19 16:30:38] [Eddie Holmes] There's also news/rumours about China's top spy defecting to the US in Feb and providing info about a lab leak. I've just heard it on the radio. No idea what this actually means. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/18/rumours-swirl-chinas-top-spycatcher-has-defected-us/ [2021-06-19 16:39:09] [Robert Garry] If he's wearing a raccoon dog coat, I'm all ears! [2021-06-19 20:23:38] [Kristian Andersen] Reading through Jesse's preprint now. I fail to see the relevance... [2021-06-19 20:26:33] [Kristian Andersen] I mean, it's interesting enough, but none of this is surprising - and he clearly doesn't understand some pretty basic principles about early divergence. Oh well - I'm glad I cut my trip short by three days to hop on this call. I'm sure this'll be interpreted as the proof of a lab leak - I kinda just adds to the multi-market hypothesis and some Chinese scientists asked for the data to be deleted because Chairman Xi had made it clear that he is in charge. I hate to think what will happen to the authors of the deleted data once this goes online - I can't say I think their lives