CME INDIA Presentation by Dr. S. K. Gupta, MD (Med), FICP, CFM (France) Clinical Asst. Professor GS Medical College, CCSU, Uttar Pradesh India. Visiting Consultant, Max Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi.

This article is a review on state of affairs which the world is facing today.

“As humans, when we are given two possibilities, we assume that they are somewhat equivalent in likelihood, so when you hear “lab leak or natural origin” it’s not unreasonable to assume that those two things are about as likely as one another, even though that makes no sense whatsoever” – Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz (Epidemiologist working in chronic disease in Sydney, Australia).

Covid lab-leak: Man-made virus

Disaster Unlimited

  • The COVID-19 pandemic originated in Wuhan, China, where one of the most advanced labs of the world – Wuhan Institute of Virology – is located. This lab is one such place where most sophisticated research on viruses is done.

Pandemic spread to every nook and corner of the world

  1. Affecting more than 176 million people (17 crore).
  2. Killing more than 3.8 million people.
  3. Unleashing an unprecedented global economic meltdown.
  4. Social disaster.

But the damage is least in Wuhan and China

  • Wuhan figures closed at ~85000 cases. And China makes maximum financial gains from pandemic by exporting medical equipment, masks, PPE Kits etc.
  • In India alone more than 3 crore people have suffered and nearly 3 lakh 75 thousand have died.
  • In beginning of the pandemic, who so ever raised the possibility of a laboratory leak theory rather than the natural origin of the virus was vehemently opposed. Several scientists were labelled as conspiracy theorists by their own Scientific media and scientific journals, including Lancet.

World seems to have risen to explore the truth

  • But now having suffered the huge damage world seems to have risen to explore the truth.
  • A group of eighteen high-profile virologists and epidemiologists have published an open letter in “Science”- a reputed journal of the American Association for the advancement of science – demanding a neutral enquiry into the origin of the virus.

What is the need of Hour?

  1. Public should rise to the occasion and demand a proper investigation.
  2. WHO & UN should be sensitive enough to build momentum and positive atmosphere for nations for such a discussion.
  3. Start the investigations with open mind, taking both hypotheses – natural and laboratory spillover – seriously and equally until we have sufficient data.
  4. Public health agencies and research laboratories alike need to open their records to the public – to quell the queries of those who have suffered most
  5. Investigation should be transparent, objective, data-driven, inclusive of broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, and responsibly managed.
  6. Investigators should document the veracity and provenance of data from which analyses are conducted and conclusions drawn, so that analyses are reproducible by independent experts.

Investigations have been done in past too but how?

  1. The information, data, and samples for the study’s first phase were collected and summarized by the Chinese half of the team; the rest of the team built on this analysis.
  2. Two theories were not given balanced consideration. Only 4 of the 313 pages of the report and its annexes addressed the possibility of a laboratory accident.
  3. Team submitted no findings in clear support of either a natural spillover or a lab accident, the team assessed a zoonotic spillover from an intermediate host as “likely to very likely,” and a laboratory incident as “extremely unlikely.
  4. So there is need for repeat investigation (Ref.1,2).

World Bio WAR?

  • With more than 175 million already suffered and nearly 4 million dead across more than 200 countries situation is no less than 3rd World War. But this time is it Bio War – Manmade and inflicted upon innocent people by greedy and power hungry few?
  • Earliest indications of this being manmade were given by a group of nine Indian Scientists within two months of the outbreak. Their deep diving research was published as early as Jan 2020.
  • But the Euphoric world Scientists such as Dr Anthony Fauci and others not only brushed it aside but also branded it as Outlandish.

What did Indian researchers find?

  1. Simply put it in one line: Covid-19 virus was “manipulated” and “laboratory made.”
  2. Covid 19 virus has four unique gene inserts, all of which are similar to amino acids of HIV-1.
  3. Four insertion though far off in genetic sequence, converge to code for the spike proteins of the coronavirus.
  4. These insertions are CD4 binding domains. AND 2019 coronavirus itself target ACE-2 receptors in Lung. So by these insertions, the 2019 virus became dual-targeting, causing inflammation in lung on one hand and blunting the immunity by attacking CD4 T cells (lymphocytes) on the other hand.
  5. These four insertions were not only absent in S protein of SARS Virus but were also not  observed in any other member of the Coronaviridae family.
  6. It appeared startling as it is quite unlikely for a virus to have acquired such unique insertions naturally in a short duration of time.
  7. Findings were published as “Uncanny similarity of unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag”(Ref.3)
Covid lab-leak - Man-made virus
  • However paper was withdrawn from bioRxiv on 2 February after the massive criticism it faced from many so called big scientists who described Indian researchers as “rumour mongering scientists” and “attention seeking scientists.”
  • Despite having withdrawan the paper, Indian researchers stand firm and confident about their work. They believe truth will come out some day.
  • On the other hand, having faced the truth and lethality of Virus the world’s Top scientist including Anthony Fauci have realized their mistake but it truly requires lot of courage to admit the same.
  • Nevertheless most have come forward and voiced their opinion for further investigation into origin of Virus.

Greater clarity about the origins of this pandemic is necessary and feasible to achieve

  • A group of 18 high-profile virologists and epidemiologists have published an open letter demanding a neutral enquiry into the origin of the virus.
  • Purpose of investigation – To prevent or quickly mitigate future pandemics!

Who else wants enquiry?

  • Not only Scientist but US Politicians too have raised their voice for fresh investigation. Recently, an open report by the Republicans’ House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has demanded an unbiased enquiry into the origin of the virus. It’s crucial for health experts and the U.S. Government to understand how the COVID-19 virus originated. International efforts to discover the true source of the virus, however, have been stymied by a lack of cooperation from the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
  • Nevertheless, significant circumstantial evidence raises serious concerns that the COVID-19 outbreak may have been a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
  • The report has provided a detailed list of circumstantial evidence pointing to the origin of the virus to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV):
    1. China’s history of research lab leaks resulting in infections.
    2. Warnings from U.S. diplomats in China as early as 2017 that the Wuhan lab was conducting dangerous research on corona viruses without following necessary safety protocols, risking the accidental outbreak of a pandemic.
    3. Gain of Function research being conducted at the Wuhan lab that made corona viruses more infectious in humans.
    4. Several researchers at Wuhan lab were sickened with COVID-19-like symptoms in fall 2019.
    5. The involvement in the Wuhan lab of the Chinese military, which has a documented biological weapons program.  
    6. Multiple indications of attempts by Beijing to cover up the true circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak.  

Counter Evidence against Chinese theory:

  • Little circumstantial evidence to support the PRC’s claim that COVID-19 was a natural occurrence, having jumped from some other species to humans.
  • Chinese authorities have failed to identify the original species that allegedly spread the virus to humans, which is critical to their zoonotic transfer theory. 

Truly USA too has Hand in Glove?

  • United States of America funded Wuhan Institute of Virology in name Gain of Function Research.
  • Money was routed to China through National Institutes of Health USA – An Institute headed by Anthony Fauci and Peter Daszak, Zoologist who headed WHO enquiry
  • According to Fauci, $600,000 were earmarked for the institute in Wuhan over a period of five years to study zoonotic viruses and whether bat corona viruses could jump onto human beings.

What is Gain of Function Research?

  • Gain of Function (GoF) research means making manipulations in certain pathogenic microbes to make them more deadly or transmissible!
  • It is done by genetically engineering the virus and allowing them to grow in different growth mediums – a technique called serial passage.

Arguments in Favour of Nasty Research

Supporters of the GoF research argue that

  1. Research is necessary to develop vaccines and medicines.
  2. It helps scientists to better predict emerging infectious diseases by “getting ahead of the virus to prevent natural spill overs.”
  3. Proponents of GoF research believe “nature is the ultimate bioterrorist, and we need to do all we can to stay one step ahead.”

Perception in Public almost changing

  • Unfortunately, scientists at the behest of power hungry politicians seem to have crossed all boundaries and created monster chimeric virus(es). And the entire human race seems to be paying the price. (Chimeric=mythical animal, formed from parts of various animals.)

SARS-CoV-2 is a product of Gain of Function (GoF) laboratory research?

  • The two preprint publications co-authored by the Chinese scientist Li Meng Yan – who had sought asylum in the United States – clearly and categorically provides evidence into the laboratory origin of the virus. She outlines in detail:
    1. How the Sars Cov-2 has been genetically engineered. It’s Rapid Binding Domain has been altered by introducing a furin cleavage site in its trimeric Spike protein to facilitate it’s binding to ACE2 receptors and thus make it more transmissible.
    2. How Some genes of HIV-1 virus have been introduced in the virus to make it more virulent. These genes modify the virus so as attack lymphocytes.(3)
  • These two publications are very comprehensive and products of high-quality analysis. The SARS-CoV-2 is a laboratory-engineered chimeric virus, combining genetic sequences of the already existing viruses in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
  • More than half a million individuals have downloaded the document, and only a few had come forward to oppose the findings in superfluous manner.
  • Chinese scientist Li Meng Yan is being interviewed by Media houses https://youtu.be/HD6wNZ2Xmi0
  • It is causing much embarrassment to China so much so that it had to release a video of another senior Chinese Lady scientist from WIV countering all the arguments lavelled. https://youtu.be/V41V_KXfzyQ
  • Media has also dig out a several year old Video of Peter Daszak where he is seen boasting about how researchers in Wuhan have been working on Corona Virus making it more transmissible and lethal‼️
  • Dr. Peter Daszak is President of EcoHealth Alliance, a US-based organization NGO that conducts research and outreach programs on global health, conservation and international development. Dr. Daszak’s NGO has been instrumental in funding US money to China for the research of viruses including SARS. https://youtu.be/OuZLucsfYNM
  • Chinese Military ties with Virus Research: WIV lab and its research have strong links with the Chinese military. ZC45 and ZXC21 are bat corona viruses that were discovered by military research laboratories in the Third Military Medical University (Chongqing, China). Both these viruses discovered by Chinese militry provided backbone or say template for the Sas Cov 2 genome for genetic modification in gain-of-function research – writes Li Meng Yan – There is, the 94.2% identity on the Orf8 protein, 100% identity on the E protein, and the overall genomic/amino acid-level resemblance between SARS-CoV-2 and ZC45/ZXC21.
  • To support natural origin theory the Chinese floated Scientific publications stating that  previously discovered bat coronavirus named RaTG13, shares a 96% nucleotide sequence identity with SARS-CoV-215. However, the existence of RaTG13 in nature and the truthfulness of its reported sequence are being widely questioned.

Virus Leak or Deliberate Release as weapon?

  • The undoubted evidence of the Chinese laboratory origin of the virus and the lack of impact of the virus in the country of origin makes us think the leak could be an act of commission as a biological weapon to gain control over the global economy.
  • Though the virus had its origin in China and then spread globally, the virus has made minimal impact on the Chinese people.
  • The pandemic helped the Chinese economy to flourish.
  • A section of the MNC vaccine industry or its collaboratorsn- the biggest secondary beneficiary of the pandemic – could very well be the co-conspirators in covering up the laboratory origin of the pandemic.

When did World Super Powers shift the focus of Research from Big tanks & Fire gun to Micro Weapons capable of mass destruction ?

  • It is a serious matter for every one to think before being bitten.
  • Evidence favouring Lab Leak of Virus:
    1. Earlier updates documented that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were doing gain-of-function experiments designed to make coronaviruses infect human cells and humanized mice. This is exactly the kind of experiment from which a SARS2-like virus could have emerged.
    2. The researchers were not vaccinated against the viruses under study, and they were working in the minimal safety conditions of a BSL2 laboratory. So escape of a virus would not be at all surprising.
    3. In all of China, the pandemic broke out on the doorstep of the Wuhan institute. All Wuhan hospitals receiving the early patients are clustered along the Wuhan №2 subway line which connects the Institute of Virology at one end with the international airport at the other, the perfect conveyor belt for distributing the virus from lab to globe.
    4. The  virus was already well adapted to humans, as expected for a virus grown in humanized mice.
    5. It possessed an unusual enhancement, a furin cleavage site, which is not possessed by any other known SARS-related beta-coronavirus, and this site included a double arginine codon also unknown among beta-coronaviruses.

What is Furin clevage site?

During the process of invasion of Human cells by SarsCov2:

  • Virus first Latches over to Ace 2 receptors of cell then fuse with cell membrane but invasion cannot complete until the S1 and S2 subunits have been cut apart.
  • And there, right at the S1/S2 junction, is the furin cleavage site that ensures the spike protein is cleaved in exactly the right place.
  • The virus does not carry its own cleaver. It relies on the human cell to do the cleaving for it.
  • Human cells have a protein cutting tool on their surface known as furin. Furin will cut any protein chain that carries its signature target cutting site.
  • This unique signature that human cells recognise is called PRRA – is the sequence of amino acid units proline-arginine-arginine-alanine.
  • And surprisingly  PRRA is the amino acid sequence at the core of SARS2’s furin cleavage site not found in any other corona virus. 

What more evidence could one want, aside from the presently unobtainable lab records documenting SARS2’s creation?

Array of Gaps in Natural spillover Theory

The possiblity of Natural Spillover rests on a single surmise, the expected parallel between the emergence of SARS2 and that of SARS1 and MERS.
But none of the evidence expected in support of such a parallel history has yet emerged.
No one has found the bat population that was the source of SARS2.
Bats are common in Southern China yet the pandemic began in Wuhan.
SarsCov2 has never infected bats.
No intermediate host has been found, despite an intensive search by Chinese authorities that included the testing of 80,000 animals.
No evidence of the Sars 2 virus making multiple independent (unsuccessful) jumps from its intermediate host to humans, as both the SARS1 and MERS viruses did.
No evidence from hospital surveillance records of the epidemic gathering strength in the population as the virus evolved.
No explanation of why a natural epidemic should break out in Wuhan and nowhere else.
No good explanation of how the virus acquired its furin cleavage site, which no other SARS-related beta-coronavirus possesses, nor why the site is composed of human-preferred codons.
World saw China implanting strict lockdowns (that were hitherto unheard-of) in Wuhan from the very beginning knowing that it was lab leak of a deadly virus, that could gain monstrous proportion and truly so, it became uncontrollable.  

 

Is it less than a War?

  • Be it an accidental leak or biowarfare the ground situation is no less than a war – nearly four million dead and 177 millions suffered,  billions stranded and locked inside houses. Millions jobless, hungry and several lakhs with sequelae of Long Covid.
  • Responsibility needs to be fixed, guilty be brought to book but with two superpowers China and US at play possibility seems remote but not impossible. Removal of Fauci is just the beginning. More heads to roll.

Man Made Virus – who all are Gulity?

  • Major players who seem most likely to deserve blame.

1. Chinese Virologists.

First and foremost, Chinese virologists are to blame for performing gain-of-function experiments in mostly BSL2-level safety conditions which were far too lax to contain a virus of unexpected infectiousness such as SARS2.

Shi, the Bat Lady, is the public face of Chinese work on Corona viruses, and provisionally she and her colleagues will stand first in line for disgrace.

  • Shi Zheng Li knew about Safety Compromise.
  • Shi Zheng Li, Chief Virologist at Wuhan, was trained by French virologists, worked closely with American virologists.

Having been exposed to best labs in the World she could and should have made her own assessment of the risks she was running. She and her colleagues should bear the responsibility for their actions.

2. Chinese Authorities.

China’s central authorities did their utmost to conceal the nature of the tragedy and China is  responsible for it. They suppressed all records at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and closed down its virus databases.

  • They released a trickle of information, much of which may have been outright false or designed to misdirect and mislead.
  • They did their best to manipulate the WHO’s inquiry into the virus’s origins, and led the commission’s members on a fruitless run-around.
  • So far they have proved far more interested in deflecting blame than in taking the steps necessary to prevent a second pandemic.

3. The world community of Virologists.

Q1. Do worlds top virologist know each other?

Yes, Virologists around the world are a loose-knit professional community. They write articles in the same journals. They attend the same conferences.

Q2. Were they not aware of dangers?

Virologists knew better than anyone the dangers of gain-of-function research.

Q3. Why do Virologist Love to play with Dangerous Virus?

The power to create new viruses, and  the research funding obtainable by doing so, is always too tempting. They pushed ahead with gain-of-function experiments. They rather  lobbied against the moratorium imposed on Federal funding for gain-of-function research in 2014, and it was revoked in 2017.

Q4. Why Virologist hate BSL4 labs?

Being overburdened with safety regulations makes work Difficult and Slow.

Q5. Have there been any benefits of the Viral research in preventing future epidemic?

So far been NIL.

Q6. Do You  think the SARS2 pandemic would spur virologists to re-evaluate the benefits of gain-of-function research? No.

  • Many virologists deride lab escape as a conspiracy theory, and
  • Others keep quiet and say nothing.

Professions that cannot regulate themselves deserve to get regulated by others, and this would seem to be the future that virologists are choosing for themselves.

Who all are Gulity?

1. China 2. Chinese Virologist 3. World community of virologists 4. The USA Govt. through its National Inst. of Health.

Master Brain Behind the Virus Research 

  • By funding the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with well designed policy of USA to farm out high-risk Viral research to foreign labs – pumping huge amount money and materials, and preserving Mr Clean image. Even in labs using minimal safety precautions.
  • And if it is proved beyond doubt that SARS2 virus did indeed escape from the Wuhan institute, then the NIH and USA will find itself in the terrible position of having funded a disastrous experiment that led to the death of nearly 4 million worldwide, including more than half a million of its own citizens. However, to think that US Govt. will pursue the lab leak sincerely would be seriously wrong.

Story of Research Funding So far:

  • From June 2014 to May 2019, Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance had a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to do gain-of-function research with Corona viruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
  • For the first three years of the grant to EcoHealth Alliance there was a moratorium on funding gain-of-function research. When the moratorium expired in 2017, it didn’t just finish but was replaced by a reporting system with plenty of Loopholes. NIH redefined Gain-of-function research so as to allow it under different clause.
  • Despite all the suffering and tragedy, research continues and US Govt. announced $82 million grant in August 2020 via National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Names on this list of recipients still includes Peter Daszak.
  • Fauci is a longtime public servant who still remains at helm of affairs; Is likely to remain untouchable under the disguise of a saviour.

Journals and Journalists across World

  • The Lancet published a letter in Feb 2020 concluding that the virus is of natural origin.
  • It later turned out that the letter was organized and drafted by Dr. Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance of New York and Dr. Daszak is now implicated in the Coronavirus research at Wuhan Institute of Virology. He also acted as a subcontractor to mediate fund transfer from US NIH and Wuhan institute. It is the same Dr. Daszak who drafted the Lancet letter. He also chaired the Lancet commission on the origin of the virus. He was also a member of the WHO committee investigating the origin of the virus.
  • The same Lancet published an editorial criticizing India on dealing with the massive second wave of the virus. On one end Lancet is taking a lead role in covering up the source of the virus and, on the other end criticizing the countries that suffered due to the same virus. This duplicity is nothing but protecting the hunter and blaming the hunted.
  • Journalist of mainstream media too have failed in their duty to give desired momentum to the possible lab leak of a deadly virus.

Theory of lab leak may be impossible to prove

  • Theory of lab leak may be impossible to prove but it is essential to accept that to save the mankind from Future Genies who will in all probability leak out of bottle to become masters… no, no… monsters to mankind… Permanent moratorium on viral research (making them more transmissible or virulent) remains the only way out to save the human race.

CME INDIA Learning Points

  • Most scientists say SARS-CoV-2 probably has a natural origin.
  • It is said that it was transmitted from an animal to humans.
  • As things are going, a lab leak has not been ruled out, and many are calling for a deeper investigation into the hypothesis that the virus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
  • On 26 May, US President Joe Biden tasked the US Intelligence Community to join efforts to find SARS-CoV-2’s origins, whatever they might be, and report back in 90 days. (Ref-4)
  • Bats are known carriers of coronaviruses, and scientists have determined that the genome of SARS-CoV-2 is most similar to that of RATG13, a coronavirus that was first found in a horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus affinis) in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan in 2013.
  • But now it has been found that RATG13’s genome is only 96% identical to SARS-CoV-2’s, suggesting that a closer relative of the virus – the one passed to humans – remains unknown.
  • There is need of investigation because the virus contains unusual features and genetic sequences signalling.
  • So, was it engineered by humans? This is a big question which will decide the direction of science and future of mankind.

References

  1. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30418-9/fulltext
  2. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6543/694.1
  3. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.30.927871v1
  4. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01529-3
  5. Lytras, S. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.22.427830 (2021).Nature 594, 313-315 (2021)doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01529-3
  6. Chaturvedi P, Ramalingam N, Singh A. Is COVID-19 man-made?. Cancer Res Stat Treat [serial online] 2020 [cited 2021 Jun 22];3:284-6. Available from: https://www.crstonline.com/text.asp?2020/3/2/284/287216
  7. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-lab-leak-theory-of-covid-19-may-be-possible-but-that-doesn-t-make-it-likely



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