Top UK Scientists Denounce Chinese viral gain of function research: "Appalling Irresponsibility"

Submitted by Blue Republic on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 6:16am

Senior scientists attack Chinese researchers for creating new strains of influenza virus in veterinary laboratory

Experts warn of danger that the new viral strains created by mixing bird-flu virus with human influenza could escape from the laboratory to cause a global pandemic killing millions of people.

UK Independent report May 2, 2013

Gee, who could possibly have foreseen...

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China virus warning 2013

China gain of function 2013

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Submitted by ovals49 on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 7:20am

Let’s give equal time to Ft. Detrick

Link:From LA Times, 2003

Who could have possibly foreseen? Indeed.

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Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Submitted by Blue Republic on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 8:48am

Credit

@ovals49

Where credit's due - could as likely leaked from there or Chapel Hill, I imagine.

Submitted by ScienceTeacher on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 7:44am

This research is international

I have serious concerns about this type of research and think it should be more carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. The first time I heard about this sort of thing the virus involved was not flu and the research was done in France. There was an international outcry among researchers questioning the safety and ethics of this sort of research.

Here is another paper where they tried to make a H5N1 flu mix with human flu. They tested it out with ferrets instead of guinea pigs.

Lack of transmission of H5N1 avian–human reassortant influenza viruses in a ferret model Taronna R. Maines*, Li-Mei Chen*, Yumiko Matsuoka*, Hualan Chen*†, Thomas Rowe*‡, Juan Ortin§, Ana Falco´n§¶, Nguyen Tran Hien, Le Quynh Mai, Endang R. Sedyaningsih**, Syahrial Harun**, Terrence M. Tumpey*, Ruben O. Donis*, Nancy J. Cox*, Kanta Subbarao*††, and Jacqueline M. Katz*‡‡
*Inﬂuenza Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333; §Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientı´ﬁcas, 28049 Madrid, Spain; National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Hanoi, Vietnam; and **Center for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Ministry of Health, Jakarta 10560, Indonesia
Communicated by Peter Palese, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, June 23, 2006

Submitted by Blue Republic on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 8:57am

As well there should have been

@ScienceTeacher

There was an international outcry among researchers questioning the safety and ethics of this sort of research.

Seems back in 2012 or so Fauci was on board with it:

Early indications are that the release of Fouchier’s study will not end the controversy over its publication and the broader problem of dealing with dual-use research.

At yesterday’s press conference, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the US National institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, defended publishing the full details. “I think the benefits that will come out of the Fouchier paper in stimulating thought and pursuing ways to understand better the transmissibility, adaptation, pathogenicity [of H5N1] in my mind far outweigh the risk of nefarious use of this information,” he said in response to questions.

“When you get something out in the general literature, you stimulate thought and input from people who at first glance you wouldn’t think would have an interest in it,” he added. He said publication can trigger involvement by people in a wide range of disciplines, which can pay benefits.

Submitted by CB on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 10:31am

There is a reason to investigate these viruses

China has been plagued by both H5N1 avian and H1N1 swine flue for two decades. Both of these are transmissible to humans. The only way to create a vaccine is to study the viruses in a lab, how they mutate/combine to produce variants which could be more lethal or contagious.

A point of interest: China had a recent outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu just last February and the H1N1 swine last summer. In both these cases over half the chicken and pork production in China had to be destroyed. Pork is so important in China that they have a Strategic Pork Reserve just like the US has for oil.

Luckily for China, Trump just finished negotiating a new trade deal that he is really proud of. This multi billion dollar deal is going to get him a shit load of votes from one his biggest bases. "Really great deal. The best deal ever for American farmers. Going to bring thousands and thousands of jobs."

Trade War Progress: China Caves, Lifts Ban on US Poultry Products
February 26, 2020

As part of the U.S.-China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement, China has lifted a ban on American poultry and other key imports, according to a statement Tuesday by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

This move confirms that President Donald Trump earned another victory for the U.S. in the ongoing trade war with China while simultaneously securing a much-needed boost for struggling American farmers.

Trump announced last month that “China will now welcome American beef, and pork, poultry, seafood, rice, dairy, infant formula, animal feed, biotechnology and much, much more.”
...

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 8:21am

If I'm not mistaken, Fauci brought the Coronavirus to Wuhan

...because it was too dangerous for the 1,700 unregulated bio labs in the US to handle the mutation.

Seems back in 2012 or so Fauci was on board with it:

Then, everyone's favorite celebrity scientist, Dr Anthony Fauci, went to congress and convinced them to pay the Wuhan bio lab $3.7 million per year to continue the research. That's the evidence that President Trump and his SOS, Jabba the Hut, think they have that proves that Covid-19 spilled from a lab in Wuhan — so they can nullify the $3 trillion dollars worth of (Treasuries) loans that China is holding. You know. Reparations. Check!

But the panicked hysteria of these Neocons and the US Vassals is actually driven by China, which is quietly launching a substantial gold-backed Blockchain cryptocurrency dedicated to global trade. Which slams the door on the Dollar hegemon that has been bullying and terrorizing the world. Checkmate.

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The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

Submitted by CB on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 9:36pm

China is now holding 1.092 trillion

@Pluto's Republic
in US treasuries They are now #2 behind Japan.

China is testing new digital currency

China’s central bank has started testing its official digital currency, pressing ahead with its plan to roll out a virtual money payment system, days after Facebook-backed Libra scaled back its ambitions to become a global currency.

The Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China (PBC), China’s central bank, said that the research and development work of China’s official digital currency, dubbed as DC/EP, is proceeding steadily, and the internal pilot tests are carried out in four cities. The tests will be conducted in scenarios of the 2022 Winter Olympics Games in Beijing.

China’s official digital currency is undergoing testing and has not been officially released, state media reported.

Insiders said the trial run will be piloted within a small range of banks and end users, and spread to a wider range with an improved technology and system, the Global Times reported.
...

The unique feature of this digital currency is that you can transfer funds just by communication between two cell phones w/o connection to a central bank or credit card company. It doesn't even require an internet connection. It is tied to the SIM card in your phone. It effectively works like having cash in your pocket. I've seen videos of it in action to pay for stuff. You just hold up your phone and the camera verifies transactions and transfers the money.

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 9:08am

Excellent discussion about it at peak prosperity

One of the more acutely-asked questions since the covid-19 pandemic broke out has been: Is the virus man-made?

Debate on the matter has been wild and furious. After much investigation, Chris is now chiming in on the heels of an explosive Newsweek report.

Newsweek reveals that as recently as last year, the US funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 'gain of function' research on bat coronaviruses.

The source of that funding? The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, headed by.....(drumroll please)....Dr Anthony Fauci, lead medical expert for America's Covid-19 task force.

Now, this doesn't mean the virus was lab-engineered as a bio-weapon. But it does suggest a naturally-occuring bat virus could have been artificially accelerated along certain vectors.

Of course, this raises an awfully lot of urgent and important questions.

So far, Fauci has not commented on the Newsweek report. But we will be keeping close tabs on developments from here...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6y8dlhoMpo]

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 7:14pm

We can front-run this info

@Lookout

...but it's not sticking. Pompeo and his cartel of psychopaths are pushing the lies about China, and the lies are winning.

Pompeo spews his obvious lies on television, using the compliant media to launch the Neocon's war with China. This from Guardian today:

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, claimed on Sunday there is “enormous evidence” the coronavirus outbreak originated in a Chinese laboratory – but did not provide any of the alleged evidence.

Pompeo’s claims, made in an interview with ABC’s This Week, represented an escalation in rhetoric. He had previously said the US was looking into the possibility the virus came from a lab in Wuhan, China.

On Sunday, Pompeo said: “There is enormous evidence that that’s where this began,” later adding: “I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan.”

At one point, the secretary of state appeared confused over whether he was claiming the Sars-CoV-2 virus (which causes the Covid-19 disease) was deliberately engineered or escaped as the result of a lab accident.

“Look, the best experts so far seem to think it was manmade. I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point,” he said.

But when he was reminded that US intelligence had issued a formal statement noting the opposite – that the scientific consensus was that the virus was not manmade or genetically modified – Pompeo replied: “That’s right. I agree with that.”

Most epidemiologists say that while it is possible the outbreak started in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where coronaviruses have been intensively studied, it is far more likely that it was transmitted naturally from bats through an intermediary animal, mutating along the way to become dangerous to humans.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, said “the weight of evidence” pointed to natural transmission but was not conclusive.

Fool's like Trump will jump into blaming China because it lets him off the hook for incompetence. Bigger fools blindly hate on China, contrary to all credible evidence presented, because they have been brainwashed to do so.

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