Legett79 said:

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Came here for the cleavage. Left disappointed.

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Chinese scientists, researchers, and doctors examining the emergent 2019-nCoV Coronavirus report that the new viral menace appears to be "a recombinant virus between the bat coronavirus and an origin-unknown coronavirus. The recombination occurred within the viral spike glycoprotein, which recognizes cell surface receptor." But Prof. Zhengli appears to have worked with recombinant Coronavirus derivations involving viral spike proteins for over a decade at Wuhan Institute of Virology, all the way back to 2006 and up to as recently as December, 2019 the very month that 2019-nCoV Coronavirus was first reported as having infected visitors at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market just down the road from her laboratory!

The day before the Coronavirus 2019-nCoV outbreak, this report was published. Do you believe in coincidences?
In fact, on the day before the new coronavirus would find its first victims just 8.6 miles away at the market on December 12, 2019, Prof. Zhengli and her team published the study entitled Molecular mechanism for antibody-dependent enhancement of coronavirus entry on December 11, 2019. The abstract reads,
"Coronavirus spike protein mediates viral entry into cells by first binding to a receptor on host cell surface and then fusing viral and host membranes. Our study reveals a novel molecular mechanism for antibody-enhanced viral entry and can guide future vaccination and antiviral strategies. This study reveals complex roles of antibodies in viral entry and can guide future vaccine design and antibody-based drug therapy."

And immediately after this study was published literally the following day the first victims became infected with what would soon be named Coronavirus 2019-nCoV began to get infectedjust a few miles away from Prof. Zhengli's laboratory. And as The Sun reports, victims of the new coronavirus are infected via a strong binding affinity to a human protein called ACE2," in precisely the identical manner as Prof. Zhengli's just-discovered "novel molecular mechanism" identified (or engineered) literally weeks if not days before. Do you believe in coincidences?
Let's say that's just a coincidence Prof. Zhengli published a study or two specifically on bat coronaviruses. Have there been others?

How much time you got? The above study, specifically relating to human host cell binding and entry of coronavirus infection, and published the day before the first viral infections were reported at a location adjacent Prof. Zhengli's laboratory, is far from the only study in which she has directed on the subject. The scientist's entire virology history is rife with hands-on experience with coronaviruses, with especial attention devoted to understanding their spike protein properties, as related to potentiality of human cell entry and infection. In June 2016's study, Bat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Like Coronavirus WIV1 Encodes an Extra Accessory Protein, ORFX, Involved in Modulation of the Host Immune Response she writes that what was important was that bats "harbor genetically diverse SARS-like coronaviruses (SL-CoVs), and some of them have the potential for interspecies transmission." She further states that her team created a "reverse genetics system" that would be helpful for "study of the pathogenesis of this group of viruses and to develop therapeutics for future control of emerging SARS-like infections."

In a letter to the editor of SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences published in November, 2017, entitled Cross-neutralization of SARS coronavirus-specific antibodies against bat SARS-like coronaviruses, Prof. Zhengli warns that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is considered to be an emerging zoonotic pathogen crossing species barriers to infect humans, and that the spike protein of the virus' RNA genome plays a key role in human cellular entry.
In that same month, the results of a study Prof. Zhengli conducted, Serological evidence of bat SARS-related coronavirus infection in humans, China indicated that some SARSr-CoVs may have high potential to infect human cells, without the necessity for an intermediate host.

In 2016, one of the Directors at Wuhan Institute of Virology posted the annual Director's Message, of which the following finding was the top announcement: "The live SARS-like coronavirus SL-CoV-WIV1 has been isolated for the first time from the bat droppings; and such virus has been confirmed to invade the host cells through the ACE2 of human beings, civets and Rhinolophus sinicus. The research result has so far provided the most convincing evidence to the view that Rhinolophus sinicus is the natural host of SARS-CoV (Nature, 2013)." Does this not sound precisely like Coronavirus 2019-nCoV, which invades the host cells through the ACE2 protein? At any rate, since Prof. Zhengli is Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator of both the Emerging Viruses Group and the National Biosafety Laboratory, this is squarely her turf; the current outbreak seems amazingly similar.

In a study conducted in September of 2015, Two Mutations Were Critical for Bat-to-Human Transmission of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Prof. Zhengli and team successfully achieved viral entry (bat-to-human transmission)of bat coronavirus HKU4 via its spike protein by performing two small mutations. Doing so also helped explain how MERS coronavirus was able to infect humans as well.

It was in 2015's study, Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Bat Coronavirus Closely Related to the Direct Progenitor of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus that Prof. Zhengli and team highlighted "the likelihood of future bat coronavirus emergence in humans" by isolating a new bat coronavirus closer to SARS-CoV in genomic sequence, particularly in its spike gene. "Cell entry and susceptibility studies indicated that this virus caninfect animal and human cell lines," they concluded.

And in 2010's Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) proteins of different bat species confer variable susceptibility to SARS-CoV entry Prof Zhengli and her team of scientists "extended [their] previous study to ACE2 molecules from seven additional bat species and tested their interactions with human SARS-CoV spike protein using both HIV-based pseudotype and live SARS-CoV infection assays."

Even earlier in 2010, Prof. Zhengli published, Bat and virus, a keystone study identifying bats "as a natural reservoir of emerging and reemerging infectious pathogens," emphasizing that an astonishing amount (more than 70, at the time) and genetic diversity of viruses isolated from the bat have been identified in different populations throughout the world. She stresses that many viruses were found in apparently healthy bats, suggesting that bats may have a particularly robust immune system or "antiviral activity against virus infections."

In 2009's Immunogenicity difference between the SARS coronavirus and the bat SARS-like coronavirus spike (S) proteins, Prof. Zhengli and her team concluded "SARS-like coronavirus (SL-CoV) in bats have a similar genomic organization to the human SARS-CoV." And notably, that this work "provides useful information for future development of differential serologic diagnosis and vaccines for coronaviruses with different S [spike] protein sequences."

Prof. Zhengli's research in 2009's Differential stepwise evolution of SARS coronavirus functional proteins in different host species produced results that supported the hypothesis that "SARS-CoV originated from bats and that the spill over into civets and humans were more recent events."

Moving even further back in time to 2007, Prof. Zhengli worked on Determination and application of immunodominant regions of SARS coronavirus spike and nucleocapsid proteins recognized by sera from different animal species, producing assays that would be a "useful tool to trace the origin and transmission of SARS-CoV and to minimise the risk of animal-to-human transmission."

It appears that 2006 was the year Prof. Zhengli first researched recombinant spike proteins along with other distinctive genome sequences resulting from the interaction of bat, palm civet, and human isolates. "Full-length genome sequences of two SARS-like coronaviruses in horseshoe bats and genetic variation analysis." Basically, she is tremendously versatile and adept in her research whenever she encounters these recombinant spikes proteins in viral interactions.

Moreover, it's not just coronaviruses from bats that she and her team have discovered and explored, but also diverse novel viruses/virus antibodies in bats, including adenoviruses, adeno-associated viruses, circoviruses, paramyxoviruses, and filoviruses. In fact, Prof. Zhengli has coauthored over an astounding 130 publications on viral pathogen identification, diagnosis and epidemiology nearly all of which commandeered at Wuhan Institute of Virology where the National Biosafety Laboratory is located and where she reigns as Head of the Department. In fact, on the World Society for Virology website, Prof. Zhengli's profile confirms that one of her great contributions was to "uncover genetically diverse SARS-like coronaviruses in bats with her international collaborators and provide unequivocal evidence that bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-CoV." Thus, her adeptness in the specialized field of bat virology especially where transmission to humans is concerned is inarguable.

Such an expansive personal history of expertise into coronaviruses is not only impressive, but unique, and the bulk of her 30-year career at Wuhan Institute Virology seems to have been dedicated primarily to the examination and exploration of all facets of interspecies (though primarily bat) pathogenic infection of coronaviruses into human host cells. For reference, you can check Appendix A for the sum total of all her published (or otherwise unclassified or declassified) studies at the end of this essay. Prof. Zhengli's absolute mastery of bat-to-human transmission of viruses via their spike protein binding with human cell receptors is virtually conclusive and unrivalled.

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As a control, we also collected 240 serum samples from random blood donors in 2015 in Wuhan, Hubei Province more than 1000 km away from Jinning (Fig. 1A) and where inhabitants have a much lower likelihood of contact with bats due to its urban setting.

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Two years before the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the world, U.S. Embassy officials visited a Chinese research facility in the city of Wuhan several times and sent two official warnings back to Washington about inadequate safety at the lab, which was conducting risky studies on coronaviruses from bats. The cables have fueled discussions inside the U.S. government about whether this or another Wuhan lab was the source of the virus even though conclusive proof has yet to emerge.
In January 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing took the unusual step of repeatedly sending U.S. science diplomats to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which had in 2015 become China's first laboratory to achieve the highest level of international bioresearch safety (known as BSL-4). WIV issued a news release in English about the last of these visits, which occurred on March 27, 2018. The U.S. delegation was led by Jamison Fouss, the consul general in Wuhan, and Rick Switzer, the embassy's counselor of environment, science, technology and health. Last week, WIV erased that statement from its website, though it remains archived on the Internet.

What the U.S. officials learned during their visits concerned them so much that they dispatched two diplomatic cables categorized as Sensitive But Unclassified back to Washington. The cables warned about safety and management weaknesses at the WIV lab and proposed more attention and help. The first cable, which I obtained, also warns that the lab's work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic.

"During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory," states the Jan. 19, 2018, cable, which was drafted by two officials from the embassy's environment, science and health sections who met with the WIV scientists.

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Ranger222 said:

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This woman and her lab is being made out to be a villain when there is zero evidence to suggest the problem originated from a lab. If people want to bring this claim they better bring it with evidence and so far there is none.

In fact, there is more evidence that it DIDN'T originate from her lab --

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Back in Wuhan, where the lockdown was finally lifted on April 8, China's bat woman is not in a celebratory mood. She is distressed because stories from the Internet and major media have repeated a tenuous suggestion that SARS-CoV-2 accidentally leaked from her labdespite the fact that its genetic sequence does not match any her lab had previously studied. Other scientists are quick to dismiss the allegation. "Shi leads a world-class lab of the highest standards," Daszak says.

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/

Here is a group that is performing the EXACT type of surveillance research we need to halt the NEXT pandemic, and we are making them into a villain. We need MORE groups during this exact research, not trying to shut them down or pull their funding.

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Many scientists say the world should move beyond merely responding to deadly pathogens when they arise. "The best way forward is prevention," Daszak says. Because 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases of animal origins come from wildlife, a top priority should be identifying them and developing better diagnostic tests, he adds. Doing so would essentially mean continuing on a much larger scale what researchers such as Daszak and Shi had been doing before their funding ended this year.

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People continue not to realize the vastness of the viral reservoir in animals like bats or birds, and the issues that can arise when we come in close contact.

I believe this is referenced in the above story, but takes a different tone and outlook here --

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In many bat dwellings Shi has sampled, including ****ou Cave, "constant mixing of different viruses creates a great opportunity for dangerous new pathogens to emerge," says Ralph Baric, a virologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the vicinity of such viral melting pots, Shi says, "you don't need to be a wildlife trader to be infected."


Near ****ou Cave, for example, many villages sprawl among the lush hillsides in a region known for its roses, oranges, walnuts and hawthorn berries. In October 2015 Shi's team collected blood samples from more than 200 residents in four of those villages. It found that six people, or nearly 3 percent, carried antibodies against SARS-like coronaviruses from batseven though none of them had handled wildlife or reported SARS-like or other pneumonialike symptoms. Only one had traveled outside of Yunnan prior to the sampling, and all said they had seen bats flying in their village.

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This shows how easy and prevalent these transmission events are to just common people. No lab is needed.

Or not even contact with bats, but with other animals that could serve as a "middle-man" to jump between animals and humans, which has always been the biggest fear.

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In any case, Shi says, "wildlife trade and consumption are only part of problem." In late 2016 pigs across four farms in Qingyuan County in Guangdong60 miles from the site where the SARS outbreak originatedsuffered from acute vomiting and diarrhea, and nearly 25,000 of the animals died. Local veterinarians could not detect any known pathogen and called Shi for help. The cause of the illnessswine acute diarrhea syndrome (SADS)turned out to be a virus whose genomic sequence was 98 percent identical to that of a coronavirus found in horseshoe bats in a nearby cave.

"This is a serious cause for concern," says Gregory Gray, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Duke University. Pigs and humans have very similar immune systems, making it easy for viruses to cross between the two species. Moreover, a team at Zhejiang University in the Chinese city of Hangzhou found that the SADS virus could infect cells from many organisms in a petri dish, including rodents, chickens, nonhuman primates and humans.

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Its very clear these type of transmission events are common, and we need to learn from this and get the jump now on further characterizing these viruses and where the next threat will come from. Or, when this event finally goes away, not pull funding on projects that were ongoing after the original SARS outbreak that could have provided us with better antivirals against coronaviruses or a broad-based coronavirus vaccine that we certainly could use now. We basically canceled our car insurance because we haven't had a wreck in ten years and now we've had a wreck with no insurance. Not smart. These type of villain portrayals of researchers doing honest work will only prevent funding for the type of surveillance and preventive work that is needed. Politicians will get in the way and prevent funding or working on these viruses thinking they are preventing the next lab outbreak when they are only leaving us vulnerable fo the next outbreak to occur from a viral pathogen we have no knowledge about.

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Que Te Gusta Mas said:

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I was looking at that over the weekend.

Total A&M (College Station Campus) Doctoral Enrollment
Spring 2020 - 4,702
Spring 2010 - 3,588
Spring 2000 - 2,846

Residence Outside US
Spring 2020 - 2,440
Spring 2010 - 1,611
Spring 2000 - 1,116

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Que Te Gusta Mas said:

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I was looking at that over the weekend.

Total A&M (College Station Campus) Doctoral Enrollment
Spring 2020 - 4,702
Spring 2010 - 3,588
Spring 2000 - 2,846

Residence Outside US
Spring 2020 - 2,440
Spring 2010 - 1,611
Spring 2000 - 1,116

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Anyone know this side of the Immunology/Virology Research world? Are they stealing technology, skirting import/export laws, or something else?

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