US ceases funding to Wuhan institute amid Covid probe
US ceases funding to Wuhan institute amid Covid probe
Wuhan lab faces intense scrutiny for research into bat coronaviruses and ‘security lapses’
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Barn door and horses.
Can you rephrase this for "city folk"
They're parroting conspiracy theory nonsense about a lab leak and how the U.S. was 'funding gain-of-function research' as if that's not what pretty much all virology research is these days.
The fact is we need institutes studying coronaviruses. Especially in Asia, where so many originate. This is a very bad idea.
It's not a conspiracy theory if it's an accidental leak. It's happened before in the Soviet Union and people died, although it didn't lead to an epidemic
The conspiracy theory is "COVID was engineered to affect Jews and Chinese less prior to being released on purpose"
These are different claims, and accidental leak is at least plausible and only blames the lab for improper safety precautions
The U.S. funding part, which implies it was engineered, is the conspiracy theory nonsense part.
The US was actually funding research in the Wuhan institute through the NIH. It makes sense, as the caves in that Chinese province are home to the bats that have corona viruses like the original SARS and possibly covid-19.
which implies it was engineered
It was engineered. They have admitted that. Coronavirus was manipulated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology to become more infectious. The contention is around the term "gain of function." Fauci changed the definition some years ago to skirt the funding bans imposed by Obama. His new definition requires intent to make a virus more communicable or virulent for humans. Since the WIV didn't intend to make it more communicable or virulent for humans, Fauci maintains it is not "gain of function" research.
I don't see why this is so hard for some people to accept. Chinese laboratory standards are among the worst in the world. Article after article after article details their abysmal safety standards. Why on Earth should we believe that this specific lab were somehow better? Of course it wasn't. Of course some unqualified technician made a mistake. This was always the concern about gain of function research, which was why Obama banned it.
That is not an admission that COVID was engineered. The overwhelming scientific evidence is that it had a natural origin.
https://www.science.org/content/article/evidence-suggests-pandemic-came-nature-not-lab-panel-says
It’s not an admission that Covid-19 was engineered. It’s an admission that the lab at the epicentre of the outbreak was engineering corona viruses to make them more dangerous.
Without data, which China has destroyed, any research such as the paper you cite is working blind. I’m sure natural origin does seem the likely theory given the precedent they cite. But our intelligence agencies are privy to more than guesses.
You cannot study viruses without gain-of-function research.
As for intelligence agencies, you're incorrect in your assumption- https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/politics/covid-lab-leak-wuhan-report.html
You cannot study viruses without gain-of-function research.
We absolutely can study viruses without gain of function research. It just takes longer.
As for intelligence agencies, you’re incorrect in your assumption- nytimes.com/…/covid-lab-leak-wuhan-report.html
If you're arguing that intelligence agencies are unreliable, why are you linking to a report from an intelligence agency?
We absolutely can study viruses without gain of function research. It just takes longer.
No. You cannot reliably study what a virus is capable of without it. All you can do is hope it mutates in a certain way.
If you’re arguing that intelligence agencies are unreliable,
I'm not, I'm arguing that they disagree and the ones who say it is a lab leak say so with low confidence.
why are you linking to a report from an intelligence agency?
I'm not, I'm linking to a New York Times article (hence nytimes.com) about how they disagree and the ones who say it is a lab leak say so with low confidence.
This is something you would have known if you had read the article.
If you want people to take you seriously, link to something other than notorious shitrag National Review. Everything after mentioning them is suspect.
They cite the letter. You don’t have to trust the source. Read the evidence for yourself.
Conspiracy theory nonsense?
How is this nonsense?
According to a review by the HHS, the facility in China’s Wuhan, where Covid is said to have first emerged, has violated biosafety protocols and is not complying with US regulations.
They disregarded bio safety regulations.
The lab, located in the city where the Covid pandemic is believed to have begun, has faced intense scrutiny due to its reported security lapses and over research that has been carried out on bat coronaviruses.
Specifically COVID research.
Intelligence officials of the Joe Biden administration have been pushed by lawmakers to release more material about the origins of Covid. But they have repeatedly argued that China’s official obstruction of independent reviews has perhaps made it impossible to determine how the pandemic began.
China is conspiring in obstruction per the top leaders of the land.
Unsupported claims about bio safety regulations regarding coronaviruses are worthless. And yes, the lab studies coronaviruses. I literally said that. What's your point?
Are you questioning the factuality of The Independent as a news source or did you fail to read the article? The claims of safety regulation lapses and Chinese obstruction are coming from the Biden administration directly. Are you indicating that they are fraudulent?
You didn't give a news source. There was no link.
The article is this post
The article is this post
What post? I'm still not seeing a link. Do you expect me to just accept your quotes out of context?
The article is the very post we are commenting on. Also, here is something else.
See how we are commenting on an article post.. Please learn how to use Lemmy.
Ah, that article. Gotcha. The one that says:
Last month, the US officials released an intelligence report and rejected several points raised by those who argued that Covid leaked from a Chinese lab, instead reiterating that American spy agencies remain divided over how the pandemic began.
The report said the intelligence community has not gone further in determining Covid’s origins.
The article is this post
They're referring to the aphorism "like closing the barn door after the horses are out," a phrase meaning "too little, too late." Most likely referring to the theory that that particular lab leaked (either intentionally or through incompetence) COVID.