How to make your own SARS-CoV-2 variants

[hn-0001]

https://denovo.substack.com/p/how-to-make-your-own-sars-cov-2-variants

[Reubend]

This is interesting, and the blob post is well written.

However, to play devil's advocate... If it's true that "an undergrad would have a good chance of success" at this procedure, then perhaps writing a blog post about it and helping publicize it is doing more harm than good?

[Metacelsus → Reubend]

Author here. I think there needs to be more discussion about publication of dangerous biological protocols, and this one isn't particularly bad actually. (Truly evil people would want something worse than SARS-CoV-2.)

[tasogare → Reubend]

On the contrary it's an interesting information because it gives credit to the various lab hypothesis, including one that was suppressed at the beginning of the pandemic.

[beardyw]

Perhaps we will get less ransomware as they change over to this.

[totony]

The good old knowledge = dangerous

Of course a lot of knowledge is dangerous (how to make xray, nuclear, etc ). Do we really want to filter it because of bad actors?

[Stormfucker → totony]

Yes.

[totony → Stormfucker]

Is it better to restrict knowledge to an elite off the fear of a lower class bad actor having it easier? Seems like a very regressive view to me.

[greazy]

This technique is nothing new and commonly used in influenza.

Good luck producing viable virus though. Many mutations are deleterious to organism.