The university behind a deadly SARS-CoV-2 hybrid claims it didn’t have to gain clearance from the authorities
The Boston University researchers who developed an unusually deadly strain of the virus that causes Covid-19 did not clear their endeavor with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the agency claimed on Monday, announcing it would be seeking answers as to why it only learned of the experiment through media reports.
The original grant application did not specify that the work might involve gain-of-function-type research, NIAID microbiology and infectious diseases division director Emily Erbelding told STAT News, adding that none of the group’s progress reports mention this crucial detail. NIAID and its parent agency the National Institutes of Health partially funded the study.
Despite multiple NIAID and NIH grants listed in the preprint paper, however, director Ronald Corley of Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories insisted on Tuesday that the school had paid for the research on its own. Corley argued the federal funding had merely gone toward developing a system that would later be used in the controversial work. Besides, he said, the work didn’t qualify as gain of function because the resulting strain had only killed 80% of the infected mice, while the original Wuhan strain of the virus had killed 100% of the mice it was tested on.
READ MORE: US scientists create new lethal Covid variant
The researchers had created a hybrid of the original Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2 with the spike protein from the less-severe Omicron in an effort to discover whether the latter’s spike mutations were responsible for the milder illness experienced by those infected.
A gain-of-function experiment gone awry remains one of the main theories to explain the initial outbreak of Covid-19 in 2019, along with the theory that it originated from a bat at a Wuhan livestock market. However, there still has not been any investigation that would either confirm or deny any of the theories.
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The Israeli regime appears to be laying the groundwork for a permanent military presence in large parts of the Gaza Strip, according to a new satellite imagery analysis that documents extensive construction, infrastructure expansion, and continued destruction of Palestinian property since a ceasefire took effect in October.
Research released by Forensic Architecture, a multidisciplinary research group, and published by the Drop Site News outlet on Saturday showed that the regime had built at least 13 new military outposts inside Gaza since the ceasefire came into force on October 10, while accelerating the expansion and consolidation of 48 existing outposts.
The findings suggested that Israeli forces were not merely holding temporary positions, but physically reshaping the territory in ways consistent with long-term control.
The analysis, based on satellite images from October 10 to December 2, indicated that the regime now maintained a dense network of military infrastructure east of...
Ukraine says it has targeted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea, claiming it belonged to the Russian shadow fleet.
The vessel, the Qendil, was empty when it was struck on Friday in neutral waters in the Mediterranean Sea with aerial drones for the first time, an official at the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a written statement.
Marine tracking websites showed that the oil tanker was located 2,000 km from Ukraine off the coast of Libya when it was attacked.
The unnamed Ukrainian official did not specify exactly where the tanker was at the time of the attack or when it occurred.
However, overhead footage provided by the source showed a small explosion on the deck of a tanker. Reuters confirmed the vessel shown in the video was the Qendil by comparing it with file imagery, but could not verify the time or location.
An earlier statement by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service revealed that the British special services, in cooperation with NATO countries, had devised ...
eurofascism
The European Union is out of control and out of touch with reality. They announced a new round of sanctions on individuals and groups who refuse to drink the EU kool-aid on Ukriane. I was particularly shocked and angered by their decision to punish Colonel Jacques Baud:
Jacques Baud, a former Swiss army colonel and strategic analyst, is a regular guest on pro-Russian television and radio programmes. He acts as a mouthpiece for pro-Russian propaganda and makes conspiracy theories, for example accusing Ukraine of orchestrating its own invasion in order to join NATO.
Therefore, Jacques Baud is responsible for, implementing or supporting actions or policies attributable to the Government of the Russian Federation which undermine or threaten stability or security in a third country (Ukraine) by engaging in the use of information manipulation and interference.”
You know it is a serious matter of egregious abuse of power when Dr. Gilbert Doctorow and I are in firm agreement… Here ...
