Document Discusses Gain-Of-Function Research, Chimera Viruses

Research “clearly undermine[s]” the idea that Covid-19 did not originate in a lab.

QUICK FACTS:
  • A preprint study suggests gain-of-function research took place in Wuhan, China, and is related to the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, caused by the same family of coronaviruses as Covid-19.
  • The study identified a “novel coronavirus contaminating agricultural rice RNA sequencing datasets from Wuhan, China,” whose genetics resemble “HKU4-related coronaviruses and MERS-CoV.”
  • “Additionally, we have found a near complete read coverage of the spike gene of the MERS-CoV reference strain HCoV-EMC/2012,” the study added, “and identify the likely presence of a HKU4-related-MERS chimera in the datasets.”
  • A chimera is a virus consisting of “fragments from different viruses stitched together into a new creation,” according to Just the News.
  • The findings “document the use of a previously unpublished HKU4 reverse genetics system in apparent MERS-CoV related gain-of-function research.”
  • The scientists described that the research potentially connects “to uncovering the origin of SARSCoV-2,” therefore “undermin[ing]” the argument that the 2020 pandemic “could not have been manipulated in a laboratory.”
  • The paper comes as the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that SARS-CoV-2 likely originated in a lab.
  • It has also recently been learned that Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed chimera research. A now-publicized chat between University of Maryland professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology Matt Frieman and University of Texas Medical Branch’s Vineet Menachery revealed that Fauci discussed “the outbreak and chimeras” with the University of North Carolina’s Ralph Baric, who is linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
RESPONSE TO LAB-LEAK THEORY:
  • Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that “Certain parties should stop rehashing the ‘lab leak’ narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing origins-tracing,” and refered to a report from China and the World Health Organization (WHO) saying a lab leak was “extremely unlikely.”
  • A Chinese virologist and whistleblower who first issued a warning about where Covid originated said the U.S. gained a “milestone achievement” after the Energy Department intelligence report found a lab leak to be the place of origin.
  • When asked by Tucker Carlson if she still believes the virus was intentionally released, Dr. Li Meng Yan responded, “Of course, it was not an accident.”
  • “And I can tell you, based on the print protocol and also the other surveillance system, it would be impossible for the lab leak [to] accidentally happen in such [a] lab and cause the Wuhan outbreak and also the pandemic,” the doctor went on to say.
BACKGROUND:
  • The U.S. Energy Department joined the FBI in stating the Covid outbreak likely originated in a Chinese lab, The Wall Street Journal reported.
  • Despite the government agencies arriving at these conclusions for different reasons, there is an apparent consensus that the virus was not the result of a Chinese biological weapons program.
  • The report was not requested by Congress and it is unknown if the document will be made public.

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