
Chinese virologist claims she has proof Covid-19 was made in Wuhan lab - _ozde
https://nypost.com/2020/09/11/chinese-virologist-says-she-has-proof-covid-19-was-made-in-wuhan-lab/
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mytailorisrich
The genome of the virus is available to every lab in the world and has been
closely studied by the world's top virologists for about 9 months now.

If the virus was artificial and so easy to spot as such (she claims one does
not even need to know anything about biology...) I would expect all the main
labs in the West would have reported that instead of leaving it to some junior
HK doctor in exile who is doing the tour of the tabloids (which should also
tell us something). It feels she is just part of a FUD campaign, which should
not be be given undue airtime.

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daly
So many people have asked me about this paper that I put together a quick
response, below.

There are so many reasons why this 'report' is wrong. Beginning with the
abstract: 'The natural origin theory, although widely accepted, lacks
substantial support. The alternative theory that the virus may have come from
a research laboratory is, however, strictly censored on peer-reviewed
scientific journals'. In fact there is a great deal of experimental support,
from multiple groups, on the natural origin of SARS-CoV-2. On the other hand,
there is ZERO evidence for a laboratory origin.

The introduction also is full of inaccuracies. For example, 'the origin of
SARS-CoV-2 is still the subject of much debate' is not true. The conclusions
of the Nature Medicine article cited have not been challenged by other than
charlatans such as the authors of this paper.

Here is their evidence:

1\. A bat virus ZC45 is the backbone. It is 89% identical to SARS-CoV-2. In a
genome of 30,000 bases that means it differs from SARS-CoV-2 by 3300 bases. No
way is that the backbone of SARS-CoV-2.

2\. The receptor binding motif of SARS-CoV-2 could not have been made from
that of SARS-CoV. It is not what one would predict would give the highest
affinity binding to ACE2. No one would have made this sequence in the
laboratory because it would not have been the one to make.

3\. The furin cleavage site has been found in other bat CoV, contrary to what
the author says.

4\. The presence of restriction cleavage sites in no way indicates
manipulation; they just picked two that flank the RBD.

On top of it all I have never heard of this person or their institution.

It is a complete reach and adds nothing beyond what has already been
suggested. There is nothing new here! Similar arguments were made and debunked
months ago.

\-- Vincent Racaniello, PhD | Higgins Professor Department of Microbiology &
Immunology Columbia University College of P&S, New York

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daly
Please consult the community of virologists.

See This Week in Virology (TWiV) (
[https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/](https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/) )

They covered this several times. The consensus is that "made in a lab" is
nonsense.

Listen and learn. This is Hacker News, not Facebook.

