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Despite Corona: China continues to conduct research – new deadly virus created
Researchers from the Guangzhou lab have reported the creation of a potentially deadly virus. While the corona origin remains unexplained, virus research continues.
Author - Franz Becchi
Whether the coronavirus originates from nature or the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) is no longer the central issue. Yet while this debate has flattened, the criticised gain-of-function (GoF) research continues to be conducted. Thus, experiments in which viruses are made artificially more deadly or more contagious.
In China, scientists have now reported the creation of a new virus. Virologists have constructed chimeras from bat viruses that show an up to 10,000-fold increase in virus growth in the brain, according to a study published in the Journal of Virology of the American Society for Microbiology. According to the study, researchers have developed a modified Sads-CoV virus (Swine Acute Diarrhea Syndrome Coronavirus) by integrating a gene of the bat virus.
China continues to conduct research on viruses – under loose security conditions
The new virus was able to reproduce successfully in cells from the lungs and intestines, as well as in human and pig organoids. In mice, the viruses led to tissue damage and, in some cases, high death rates. The research was conducted under safety precautions of level BSL-2, which is comparable to the safety standards of a dental studio. Wearing a respirator mask is not necessary in this context.
Funding for the experiment came from the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the Hubei Natural Science Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Guangzhou Laboratory.
In the study's thanksgiving, Zheng-Li Shi is mentioned, which is honored for her contribution to research and the experimental results. As a former laboratory manager of the WIV, she played a central role in virus research and became known by the media as the “batwoman”. She now works at Guangzhou Laboratory.
Zhengli-Li Shi came into focus during the coronavirus pandemic when it was announced that she was leading an experiment that, according to laboratory theory, may have led to the formation of Sars-CoV-2. This experiment, the so-called “Project Defuse”, is said to have been conducted by the NGO EcoHealth Alliance in Wuhan and was first published by the research network Drastic. For a long time, gain-of-function research in Wuhan was partly funded by U.S. funding.
The new study also mentions researcher Ben Hu, who is honoured for his contribution to research. He is also in contact with the WIV and has worked in various virological projects. According to a 2023 report by journalist Michael Shellenberger, who was picked up by Forbes, Hu – according to several U.S. government officials – is said to be among the first people to become infected with Sars-CoV-2 in November 2019.
Today, a lab leak is seen as the most likely scenario for the origin of Corona, an assessment shared by international authorities such as the U.S. intelligence agencies (CIA, FBI) and the BND. A lawsuit for disclosure of these findings was rejected in April by the Federal Administrative Court with reference to the state welfare.
Products of research are “weapons of mass destruction”
Scientists, meanwhile, fundamentally warn against gain-of-function research: “Research has no civilian use whatsoever,” writes American microbiologist Richard H. Ebright on X. “The only potential products of this research are weapons of mass destruction.” Another problem highlighted by experts is the publication of the research results.
“This information is available to every rogue state with a virology laboratory – free of charge,” said virologist Simon Waine-Hobson in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung newspaper in June. The responsibility of the scientists does not end with the publication.
While the question of the origin of the corona has increasingly disappeared from the public debate, the criticized virus research continues to be intensively pursued – also at the Berlin Charité. Critics warn that it is not the question of whether such research could create a pandemic, but when.
https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/politik-gesellschaft/geopolitik/china-forscht-weiter-neues-toedliches-virus-erschaffen-li.10007517