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cinderblock
Failed Conformist

Registered: 07/13/14
Posts: 866
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? 2
#26573672 - 04/02/20 05:13 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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And by "bioweapon," I don't necessarily mean that Wuhan bio warfare laboratory released it on purpose. I personally think it was inadvertent, because China was just as ill-prepared to handle the coronavirus outbreak, as the rest of the world.
With that said, I don't buy the "seafood market" theory, because there are plenty of third world countries that eat all kinds of unusual shit. Hell, even first world countries are into nasty delicacies.
Seriously though, why does this shit always come from China? Because they're researching this shit for bioweaponry, and their facilities aren't as secure as they wish to believe. It's one thing if this coronavirus broke out in some random third world country with no technological capacity or resources. But it just starts getting really suspicious when all the deadliest viruses are consistently connected to muh fuckin China.
I read that the department in Wuhan that specifically studies coronavirus strains, is only level 2, meaning they're wearing minimal protection (presumably an apron), leaving the workers highly susceptible to infections.
After this latest coronavirus outbreak, the bioweapon lab at Wuhan has also reinforced their protocol to make sure nothing like this leaks (again) in the future.
And as much as the media keeps saying coronaviruses have been around forever, this strain is clearly different. If it's so identical to the other preexisting coronaviruses, why doesn't any preexisting treatment work?
Plus, the other coronaviruses didn't shut down the entire goddamn planet.
You can't tell me this shit is natural.
There's just too much circumstantial evidence. The American media will never admit China controls the fate of the entire world, because that would make the patriotic MAGA-touting American public feel even more insecure and threatened than they already are.
Let's be real.
This is probably just a sneak preview of what's to come. I'm sure the Wuhan bio warfare laboratory has some other bioweapons in the works that are far deadlier than Covid 19... like some kind of airborne AIDS. And imagine if a terrorist organization - with no economy to lose - somehow manages to get a hold of one of these sensitive vials... not that they don't already have access to lyme disease-carrying ticks, gah...
It's only a conspiracy theory, until it isn't.
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larry.fisherman
shoulda died already


Registered: 11/03/12
Posts: 36,294
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock] 2
#26573684 - 04/02/20 05:20 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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I have no idea, but I know that every day there's more and more information being leaked or discovered.
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Niffla



Registered: 06/09/08
Posts: 46,484
Loc: Texas
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock] 1
#26573689 - 04/02/20 05:20 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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I guess in this sick world anything is possible but I don't think so.
--------------------
HAIL OUR NEW OTD KING
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morrowasted
Worldwide Stepper


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Posts: 31,377
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: Niffla] 1
#26573692 - 04/02/20 05:21 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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No
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CookieCrumbs
Fucked off to the pub


Registered: 12/10/11
Posts: 14,146
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: morrowasted] 1
#26573716 - 04/02/20 05:37 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Lots of respiratory illnesses came from southeast Asia long before human beings started tinkering with viruses in labs.
I don't know why. I don't know if the experts know why. Just that it does happen.
Not to say that this coronavirus didn't leak out of a lab. But that doesn't make it a bioweapon and I don't see what it matters right now.
--------------------
Free time is the only time
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock]
#26573736 - 04/02/20 05:52 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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There doesn't seem to be any evidence its a bioweapon. If it were, its a shitty one given its mortality.
It's not just "eating unusual shit." It's having the right species of animals, all cramped together in combination with a cultural attitude that if you eat specific animals you gain their powers and such.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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psi
TOAST N' JAM


Registered: 09/05/99
Posts: 31,456
Loc: 613
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: CookieCrumbs] 1
#26573754 - 04/02/20 06:02 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
CookieCrumbs said: Not to say that this coronavirus didn't leak out of a lab. But that doesn't make it a bioweapon and I don't see what it matters right now.
It would matter if somebody had a "cure" up their sleeve already. Though there is no guarantee that cure would continue to work as the virus evolved in the wild.
I don't find it especially likely that it's a biological weapon but I wouldn't rule it out entirely.
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Asclepius
Human Being



Registered: 01/09/18
Posts: 2,209
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock]
#26573774 - 04/02/20 06:12 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Coronaviridae (the family of viruses that SARS-CoV-19 belongs to) have existed for centuries. Given what we understand about mutations of the common flu, it is reasonable to speculate, based on modern scientific literature, that mother nature spit this new mutation of the virus out all by herself; no help from us was needed.
Viruses, especially RNA viruses, have high mutation rates. Coronaviridae are RNA viruses.
Edited by Asclepius (04/02/20 06:15 PM)
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LogicaL Chaos
Ascension Energy & Alien UFOs




Registered: 05/12/07
Posts: 69,333
Loc: The Inexpressible...
Last seen: 2 hours, 8 minutes
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock]
#26573782 - 04/02/20 06:20 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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The problem is we dont know what a military-created bioweapon looks like cause ita highly Top Secret/Classified information.
But i at least think its a possibility it could be a genetically-modified version of SARS-Cov.
I will say various forms of "Coronavirus" phrases have some of the best, most compelling English and Jewish Gematria going on:
Jewish Gematria match:

English Gematria Matches:


-------------------- "What you must understand is that your physical dimension affects everyone in the higher dimensions as well. All things are interconnected. All things are One. Therefore, if one dimension is broken or out of balance, then all other dimensions will experience repercussions." - Pleiadian Prophecy 2020 The New Golden Age by James Carwin PROJECT BLUE BOOK ANALYSIS! (312 pages!) | Psychedelics & UFOs | Ready to Contact UFOs? | The Source on Mushrooms | Trippy Gematrix | Dj TeknoLogical | Fentanyl Test Kits R.I.P. Big Worm || The Start of the Ascension Process was 2020. Welcome to the Next Great Era of Earth 🌎🌍🌏
  Oregon Eclipse Festival 2017 :: Aug 19th - 21st :: Pure Paradise   Very Effective LSA Extraction Tek | 💧 Advanced Cold Water LSA Extraction Method 💧 |  Mescajuana - Mescaline with Marijuana | DMT Dab Bongs | UFO Technology! Shpongle
     
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D3_Myc
Weeb Trash



Registered: 05/06/18
Posts: 4,399
Loc: Year Zero
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: LogicaL Chaos] 4
#26573804 - 04/02/20 06:32 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Have you seen videos of these wet markets? They are fucking cesspools of degenerates and disease. It’s no wonder all kinds of viruses spring up in them places
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Asclepius
Human Being



Registered: 01/09/18
Posts: 2,209
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: D3_Myc]
#26573809 - 04/02/20 06:34 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
D3monic said: Have you seen videos of these wet markets? They are fucking cesspools of degenerates and disease. It’s no wonder all kinds of viruses spring up in them places
-------------------- A society governed in terms of double standards is self-destructive
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1234go
Ban Lotto Champion


Registered: 07/08/09
Posts: 53,843
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: LogicaL Chaos] 1
#26573834 - 04/02/20 06:48 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
LogicaL Chaos said:
Jewish Gematria match:

English Gematria Matches:



I'm going with Cannabis Truth Revealed, Consiparcy Theories, Ten Thousand Dollars, and Gods Birthday Proof. Sounds legit.
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LogicaL Chaos
Ascension Energy & Alien UFOs




Registered: 05/12/07
Posts: 69,333
Loc: The Inexpressible...
Last seen: 2 hours, 8 minutes
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: 1234go]
#26573842 - 04/02/20 06:52 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thats the spirit. Dont forget to throw "Coincidental Patterns" and "President Xi Jinping" on that list. Very important.
D3monic, if a scientist swabs a wet market and shows the Coronavirus under a microscope on site then i will believe it was naturally-made. Untill then, theres no explicit evidence it came from the wet markets.
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Asclepius
Human Being



Registered: 01/09/18
Posts: 2,209
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: LogicaL Chaos]
#26573855 - 04/02/20 07:01 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Link
This explains how the virus mutated naturally.
-------------------- A society governed in terms of double standards is self-destructive
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poopforballs
Stranger


Registered: 09/15/19
Posts: 162
Last seen: 11 months, 17 days
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: Asclepius]
#26573884 - 04/02/20 07:28 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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My theory is it is a bio weapon. They probably have a lethal mutation of the virus. I think they mutated it enough to not be as lethal and they wanted to test the delivery system of the virus on a global level.
Could be a power play that's going to unravel soon?
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D3_Myc
Weeb Trash



Registered: 05/06/18
Posts: 4,399
Loc: Year Zero
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: poopforballs]
#26573887 - 04/02/20 07:35 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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The scarier thought is other nefarious orgs and nations will see just how effective an attack of this nature can be at crippling a nation even the entire world.
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sh4d0ws
LSx


Registered: 02/26/08
Posts: 12,086
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: D3_Myc] 1
#26573910 - 04/02/20 07:51 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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FWIW, the wuhan virology lab is a level 4 bio lab (the highest level)
I don't really know what to think about the whole thing. Apparently the very first person to get it didn't have a connection to the seafood market at all but I have no idea what is accurate or true. It is concerning and odd that just 29 minute drive from the huanan seafood market or whatever the fuck is a virology lab where they were literally studying humanly transmittable corona viruses
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Ballzagna
Carb Daddy



Registered: 10/09/19
Posts: 619
Last seen: 13 days, 14 hours
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock] 1
#26573918 - 04/02/20 07:54 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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One of my original theories was that it was being tested on the Uyghurs they had in the internment camps with the intent to develop a vaccine and then use it on Hong Kong and only cure non-dissenters. Then follow suit with Taiwan. However because they're China they fucked it up and released it too early on accident, before they could dial in the lethality.
But that's mostly just my tinfoil hat speaking. Realistically it's just a bad strain of the same type of virus responsible for SARS. I'm pretty over all this hysteria and I think people are starting to as well. Trust in the media/government is pretty low and public attention span is even lower. Many people don't understand how statistics work or how easily they can be manipulated to be scary sounding. Raw numbers mean nothing without context, yet that's all the reports are "this many new cases, this many deaths" etc but none of them include percentages or any other kind of analysis other than "scary number go up."
Long term I think this whole thing will have positive benefits on the world, even in a worst case scenario. It'll be fiiiiiiiine.
-------------------- No one likes a naysayer It's probably fine. Even if it's not fine, it'll eventually be fine. So it's fine. PE Adventure
Photosynthesis: A Morning Ritual Ballzagna's Tek Compendium and Notes for Noobs 
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viraldrome



Registered: 09/21/18
Posts: 4,051
Loc: Parts Unknown
Last seen: 53 minutes, 16 seconds
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: D3_Myc]
#26573923 - 04/02/20 07:55 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
D3monic said: Have you seen videos of these wet markets? They are fucking cesspools of degenerates and disease. It’s no wonder all kinds of viruses spring up in them places
Exactly its not the eating of fucked up animals it's markets of live animals where they blast high powered hoses at the cages and spread animal blood, shit and god knows what else all over the place. Farming should be one guy with a respirator not a million people exposed in a market
-------------------- Lysergamides I have tried so far: 1P-LSD, 1cP-LSD, ALD-52, AL-LAD, LSZ, ETH-LAD, MIPLA, EIPLA, 1cP-AL-LAD
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CookieCrumbs
Fucked off to the pub


Registered: 12/10/11
Posts: 14,146
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: sh4d0ws] 1
#26573945 - 04/02/20 08:17 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
sh4d0ws said: FWIW, the wuhan virology lab is a level 4 bio lab (the highest level)
I don't really know what to think about the whole thing. Apparently the very first person to get it didn't have a connection to the seafood market at all but I have no idea what is accurate or true. It is concerning and odd that just 29 minute drive from the huanan seafood market or whatever the fuck is a virology lab where they were literally studying humanly transmittable corona viruses
Honestly I don't even care if it's bullshit if it stops people from selling whatever gets pulled up out of the water as food.
Some of the most endangered species in the world have only ever been seen in those markets.
--------------------
Free time is the only time
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tripp23
Kratom Freak



Registered: 05/21/08
Posts: 4,030
Loc: Florida, US
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: CookieCrumbs]
#26573960 - 04/02/20 08:27 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Yes
US2006257852
And if it wasnt.. which is really easy to do btw.. then the media obviously has an agenda of distraction for whatever reason.
-------------------- Experience my nightmarish first time of smoking Ganja!

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spirit_shadow
Feature not a bug



Registered: 08/15/11
Posts: 25,665
Last seen: 12 minutes, 51 seconds
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: tripp23] 1
#26573975 - 04/02/20 08:35 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Bioweapon? I think viruses are not from this world. They are like rocks.....with dna/rna.
-------------------- ERROR 418 IM A TEAPOT.....(this account is automated, all posts related to illegal activities or advice thereof are strictly from numerous online sites and are for informational purposes only)- Circa 2011 Ban lotto
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QuantumMeltdown
Space Monkey



Registered: 10/31/01
Posts: 4,962
Loc: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Last seen: 5 months, 10 days
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: spirit_shadow]
#26573980 - 04/02/20 08:39 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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i do believe it was bioweapon like an earlier poster had said I really feared from the beggining it was a test of the delivery mechanism with a weaker version now all they have to do is gene splice or whatever they do and shazam a much more lethal version in their back pockets.
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LogicaL Chaos
Ascension Energy & Alien UFOs




Registered: 05/12/07
Posts: 69,333
Loc: The Inexpressible...
Last seen: 2 hours, 8 minutes
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: QuantumMeltdown]
#26574101 - 04/02/20 10:01 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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The US Military has a Top Secret bioweapons lab in Utah: https://www.businessinsider.com/us-government-tests-deadly-chemical-warfare-agents-utah-2019-10
Perhaps China has the same thing in their country....
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spirit_shadow
Feature not a bug



Registered: 08/15/11
Posts: 25,665
Last seen: 12 minutes, 51 seconds
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: LogicaL Chaos]
#26574263 - 04/02/20 11:33 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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It's not secret if everyone knows about it , so wouldn't that be just a regular bioweapon testing facility?
-------------------- ERROR 418 IM A TEAPOT.....(this account is automated, all posts related to illegal activities or advice thereof are strictly from numerous online sites and are for informational purposes only)- Circa 2011 Ban lotto
Edited by spirit_shadow (04/02/20 11:34 PM)
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LogicaL Chaos
Ascension Energy & Alien UFOs




Registered: 05/12/07
Posts: 69,333
Loc: The Inexpressible...
Last seen: 2 hours, 8 minutes
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: spirit_shadow]
#26574299 - 04/03/20 12:09 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Its secret cause u dont know whats going on there but you know its there, much like Area 51 and other secret rural military bases.
Highly known yet highly secret at the same time.
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Ethric
Registered: 03/05/16
Posts: 163
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock]
#26574309 - 04/03/20 12:19 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
You can't tell me this shit is natural.
No, this is completely natural that humans are evil bastards. We are gonna destroy ourselves sooner or later.
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The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: Ethric]
#26574314 - 04/03/20 12:24 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
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4runner


Registered: 07/16/10
Posts: 15,406
Loc: State of Jefferson
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: cinderblock]
#26574396 - 04/03/20 01:55 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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It is very much a bio weapon. All signs point to it escaping from a lab. It is the perfect spreading virus with delays of symptoms and some people being asymptomatic. Everything we know as the people on the streets see this as a bad flu. Yet instantly governments are shutting things down left and right. There are people out there that know a lot more about this then they are telling us. This may not be the big bad bioweopon, but it sure as shit could be the making of one. A few tweaks to this and we got a serious collapse. This aint the spanish flu.
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Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: 4runner]
#26574455 - 04/03/20 03:25 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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The Dutch are using it as a bioweapon.
The Dutch use a lot of diseases as swear words, but now you read and hear surprisingly often that, cops, rescue worker and personnel are deliberately coughed or apat in the face or threatened with that with the warning that the person has corona.
Like a bunch of AIDS junkies threatening with dirty needles
-------------------- Omnicyclion.org higher knowledge starts here
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The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: Asante]
#26574488 - 04/03/20 04:07 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
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The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
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Re: Aspira apartments JP Nagar [Re: cinderblock]
#26574493 - 04/03/20 04:12 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
axisaspira said: I’m a little teapot[/url]
 
-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
Edited by The Blind Ass (04/03/20 05:13 AM)
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent


Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Corona virus isn't a bioweapon. And if you think it is. Ask your doctor about antipsychotics [Re: The Blind Ass]
#26574546 - 04/03/20 05:01 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Retracting its genetic profile doesn't lead back to any lab at all...
They know where it came from. Scientists figured it out before governments did. Scientists from many different countries.
The only way it's a bioweapon is if the Chinese government labs also have a time machine to go back and make it look like it came from bats
--------------------
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The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
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Re: Corona virus isn't a bioweapon. And if you think it is. Ask your doctor about antipsychotics [Re: bodhisatta]
#26574555 - 04/03/20 05:11 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
bodhisatta said: Retracting its genetic profile doesn't lead back to any lab at all...
They know where it came from. Scientists figured it out before governments did. Scientists from many different countries.
The only way it's a bioweapon is if the Chinese government labs also have a time machine to go back and make it look like it came from bats
Go away brah, it’s all a conspiracy , the illuminaughty gang made it a billion years ago and now us plebs are just feeling their might.
You and your science ain’t welcome here. This thread isn’t a question or discussion, we know i5s a bioweapon.
Body sat fart probably thinks the world is round.
-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
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larry.fisherman
shoulda died already


Registered: 11/03/12
Posts: 36,294
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Re: Do you think coronavirus is a bioweapon? [Re: larry.fisherman]
#26574625 - 04/03/20 06:33 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
larry.fisherman said: I have no idea, but I know that every day there's more and more information being leaked or discovered.
https://www.nature.com/news/engineered-bat-virus-stirs-debate-over-risky-research-1.18787
Quote:
Engineered bat virus stirs debate over risky research
Lab-made coronavirus related to SARS can infect human cells.
12 November 2015
An experiment that created a hybrid version of a bat coronavirus — one related to the virus that causes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) — has triggered renewed debate over whether engineering lab variants of viruses with possible pandemic potential is worth the risks.
In an article published in Nature Medicine on 9 November, scientists investigated a virus called SHC014, which is found in horseshoe bats in China. The researchers created a chimaeric virus, made up of a surface protein of SHC014 and the backbone of a SARS virus that had been adapted to grow in mice and to mimic human disease. The chimaera infected human airway cells — proving that the surface protein of SHC014 has the necessary structure to bind to a key receptor on the cells and to infect them. It also caused disease in mice, but did not kill them.
Although almost all coronaviruses isolated from bats have not been able to bind to the key human receptor, SHC014 is not the first that can do so. In 2013, researchers reported this ability for the first time in a different coronavirus isolated from the same bat population.
The findings reinforce suspicions that bat coronaviruses capable of directly infecting humans (rather than first needing to evolve in an intermediate animal host) may be more common than previously thought, the researchers say.
But other virologists question whether the information gleaned from the experiment justifies the potential risk. Although the extent of any risk is difficult to assess, Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, points out that the researchers have created a novel virus that “grows remarkably well” in human cells. “If the virus escaped, nobody could predict the trajectory,” he says.
Creation of a chimaera
The argument is essentially a rerun of the debate over whether to allow lab research that increases the virulence, ease of spread or host range of dangerous pathogens — what is known as ‘gain-of-function’ research. In October 2014, the US government imposed a moratorium on federal funding of such research on the viruses that cause SARS, influenza and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome, a deadly disease caused by a virus that sporadically jumps from camels to people).
The latest study was already under way before the US moratorium began, and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) allowed it to proceed while it was under review by the agency, says Ralph Baric, an infectious-disease researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a co-author of the study. The NIH eventually concluded that the work was not so risky as to fall under the moratorium, he says.
But Wain-Hobson disapproves of the study because, he says, it provides little benefit, and reveals little about the risk that the wild SHC014 virus in bats poses to humans.
Other experiments in the study show that the virus in wild bats would need to evolve to pose any threat to humans — a change that may never happen, although it cannot be ruled out. Baric and his team reconstructed the wild virus from its genome sequence and found that it grew poorly in human cell cultures and caused no significant disease in mice.
“The only impact of this work is the creation, in a lab, of a new, non-natural risk,” agrees Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist and biodefence expert at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Both Ebright and Wain-Hobson are long-standing critics of gain-of-function research.
In their paper, the study authors also concede that funders may think twice about allowing such experiments in the future. "Scientific review panels may deem similar studies building chimeric viruses based on circulating strains too risky to pursue," they write, adding that discussion is needed as to "whether these types of chimeric virus studies warrant further investigation versus the inherent risks involved”.
Useful research
But Baric and others say the research did have benefits. The study findings “move this virus from a candidate emerging pathogen to a clear and present danger”, says Peter Daszak, who co-authored the 2013 paper. Daszak is president of the EcoHealth Alliance, an international network of scientists, headquartered in New York City, that samples viruses from animals and people in emerging-diseases hotspots across the globe.
Studies testing hybrid viruses in human cell culture and animal models are limited in what they can say about the threat posed by a wild virus, Daszak agrees. But he argues that they can help indicate which pathogens should be prioritized for further research attention.
Without the experiments, says Baric, the SHC014 virus would still be seen as not a threat. Previously, scientists had believed, on the basis of molecular modelling and other studies, that it should not be able to infect human cells. The latest work shows that the virus has already overcome critical barriers, such as being able to latch onto human receptors and efficiently infect human airway cells, he says. “I don't think you can ignore that.” He plans to do further studies with the virus in non-human primates, which may yield data more relevant to humans.
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