Boston University Researchers Develop COVID Strain With 80 Percent Kill Rate in Mice
“This is playing with fire and might start a lab-generated pandemic.” Experts
Experts criticise the Boston facility where researchers developed a new deadly COVID strain with an 80% mortality rate, saying “This is playing with fire and might start a lab-generated pandemic.”
The original Wuhan Covid strain was modified by researchers to include Omicron’s spike protein. Omicron’s spike has undergone extensive mutation, making it the most contagious variety yet. At Boston University’s lab, eight out of every ten mice infected with the lab-made strain perished.
Scientists from Boston University were criticised for “playing with fire” when it was revealed they had developed a deadly new strain of Covid in a lab.
According to DailyMail.com, the team created a hybrid virus by fusing the original Wuhan strain with Omicron that killed 80% of mice in a study.
In spite of concerns that similar activities may have sparked the pandemic, the disclosure reveals how dangerous virus manipulation research continues to be conducted even in the US.
Leading Israeli government scientist Professor Shmuel Shapira declared: “This should be entirely outlawed; it’s playing with fire.”
Gain of function research, in which viruses are intentionally altered to be more contagious or lethal, is regarded to be the root cause of Covid.
Similar investigation into bat coronaviruses was conducted in a Chinese laboratory that was within a few kilometres from the initial cluster of patients. But since 2017, the US has significantly limited the practise.
‘The discovery is a clear example of gain of function research,’ said Dr. Richard Ebright, a chemist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
“It is important that oversight of improved possible pandemic pathogen research be strengthened,” he continued, “if we are to avert a next lab-generated epidemic.”
Researchers from Boston and Florida collected Omicron’s spike protein, the distinctive structure that binds to and invades human cells, for the latest study, which has not been peer-reviewed. Although it has always existed, over time it has evolved more. Numerous changes in the spike protein of Omicron are what make it highly contagious. Researchers linked the initial wildtype strain that first appeared in Wuhan at the onset of the pandemic to Omicron’s spike protein. The scientists compared the performance of the mice under the new hybrid strain to that of the original Omicron type.
Boston University Researchers Develop COVID Strain With 80 Percent Kill Rate in Mice
Researchers from Boston and Florida collected Omicron’s spike protein, the distinctive structure that binds to and invades human cells, for the latest study, which has not been peer-reviewed. Although it has always existed, over time it has evolved more. Numerous changes in the spike protein of Omicron are what make it highly contagious. Researchers linked the initial wildtype strain that first appeared in Wuhan at the onset of the pandemic to Omicron’s spike protein. The scientists compared the performance of mice under the new hybrid strain to that under the original Omicron version.
One of the 13 biosafety level 4 facilities in the US is the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University.
One of the 13 biosafety level 4 facilities in the US is the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University. These labs are capable of conducting the most hazardous kind of research, including work with extremely contagious viruses like Covid and Ebola.
These labs are capable of doing the most hazardous types of research, including those employing very contagious viruses like Covid and Ebola.
Researchers conduct all of their investigations in biosafety 4 labs, which feature enclosed, ventilated work spaces for handling pathogen-contaminated materials.
Researchers conduct all of their investigations in biosafety cabinets, which are enclosed spaces with ventilation for handling pathogen-contaminated materials, in biosafety level 4 labs. Workers are required to change into full-body, air-supplied pressure suits before entering, and they must take a shower before leaving.
Workers are required to change into full-body air-supplied pressure suits and take a shower before departing.
Researchers at Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories discovered that while none of the mice perished from the milder Omicron variety alone, 80% of mice died from the new man-made Covid strain.
Researchers at Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories discovered that while none of the mice perished from the milder Omicron variety alone, 80% of mice died from the new man-made Covid strain.
The next lab-created pandemic could be started by this research, according to Dr. Richard Ebright, a scientist at Rutgers University.
This study, according to Rutgers University scientist Dr. Richard Ebright (above), could lead to the next pandemic produced in a lab.
Leading Israeli government scientist Professor Shmuel Shapira opined that this kind of research ought to be prohibited since it involves playing with fire.
Leading Israeli government scientist Professor Shmuel Shapira stated that this kind of research ought to be prohibited since it involves playing with fire. Researchers from Boston and Florida retrieved Omicron’s spike protein, the distinctive structure that binds to and infiltrates human cells, for the latest study, which has not been peer-reviewed.
Although it has always been a part of the virus, it has evolved over time. Omicron’s spike protein contains several mutations that account for how contagious it is.
The initial wildtype strain that first appeared in Wuhan at the onset of the pandemic was linked to Omicron’s rise, according to researchers.
The scientists compared the performance of mice against the brand-new hybrid strain to that of the original Omicron version.
However, when the same group of rodents was exposed to the common Omicron strain, they all lived and only displayed “moderate” symptoms.
They wrote: “In mice, while Omicron induces mild, non-fatal infection, the Omicron S-carrying virus inflicts severe illness with a fatality rate of 80 percent.” in the article.
According to the researchers, it showed that while alterations to other aspects of the spike protein’s structure determine its deadliness, the spike protein itself is responsible for infectivity.
by researching diseases that endanger humans, we can prevent the next devastating outbreak.
In these facilities, experiments sometimes involve tampering with animal viruses to develop cures and vaccines that might be applied in a future outbreak.
However, there are also worries that these studies could actually increase the likelihood of pandemics, as some experts believe Covid did.
Eight miles away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), a high security biolab that dealt with deadly bat coronaviruses, the virus first started to spread from a wet market in Wuhan.
Some of Covid’s closest cousins were the focus of research there. Additionally, it was discovered that they had destroyed vital databases and prevented independent investigations of the laboratory’s connections to the epidemic.
Professor Paul Hunter, a specialist in infectious illnesses at the University of East Anglia in England, expressed concern over the intended use of all the new labs to DailyMail.com.
He said to this website, “The problem is what you’re going to be using [the labs] for.” “If they are needed for diagnostic purposes, you must have them.” However, I don’t believe every nation requires a BSL-4.
The issue, he continued, “is if they start having a second function for research that has offensive military consequences.”
India is aiming for a total of 18 BSL-3 and BSL-4 labs, whereas Russia has proposed 15 of the highest security facilities. The US is also increasing its 12 existing highest level biosecurity labs by one.
Gain of function research in the US was mainly prohibited until 2017, when the National Institutes of Health started to permit it to be conducted with public monies.
