CheshireTheCat wrote:
“
ernie_h
December 6, 2021 10:48 am
Where did omicron come from?
It’s been impossible so far to trace the lineage of omicron [B. 1.1.259] from any prior/recent ancestors. Why?
-omicron has 53 mutations relative to the original Wuhan strain
-this includes 30 non-synonymous substitutions [i.e., many with chemically dissimilar amino acids] in the S protein
-16/30 have been seen previously [presumably due to positive selection…i.e., favorable for the virus]
-13/30 occur in 3 clustered sets that are highly conserved [i.e., no…or extremely rare……prior changes seen] across SARS CoV-2 and other related coronaviruses. Each shows evidence of either negative selection or neutral selection [neutral evolution]
– negative selection [i.e., selection against…rather than in favor of…. a mutation] suggests that there should therefore be an additional compensatory mutation(s) elsewhere that compensates for any negative effect.
Yes, it gets more complicated than this, but the point is that omicron did not just evolve from a known ancestor yesterday. It’s been a long process….even for an RNA virus….. especially considering the number of mutations that show evidence of selection against (negative selection) plus the presumed necessary compensatory mutations.
So how did it arise? From the manuscript:
“This dramatic about- face in evolutionary dynamics at these 13 sites suggests that Omicron’s Spike protein structure has accommodated significant sequence change, likely in response to selective pressures favoring increased transmission, immune evasion, or viral replication—either at the population level or in a single or group of chronically infected individuals—and has potentially acquired new functionality.”
Immune evasion in vaccinated individuals or in chronically infected individuals is a real possibility. The failure to detect omicron predecessors, though, has led so far to a lot of ‘handwaving’ as to its pedigree.
However, given the prescient timing of the ‘appearance’ of the virus…..sorry folks, you can’t rule out Fauci funding. Very suspicious [cue suspicious cat]. As SD has detailed, governments ‘need’ this variant for more and more control….until the next one ‘arises’.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4017404/posts?page=1287#1287
Ping to post found by CtC !
Poster Bluto from a discussion on Market Ticker writes:
This is from Liberty Counsel on some of the crap the communists in the military are supposedly doing to patriots:
https://lc.org/newsroom/details/211206bustedmilitary-memo-leaked
“John* has been relieved of his regular duties. This lieutenant colonel is confined to an empty office every day. There is no phone or computer, just an empty desk and white walls to stare at as he waits for his shift to pass. Superior officers regularly check in to ensure John is not actually doing anything. This is psychological torture mimicking imprisonment, meant to break the mind and spirit of the soldier.”
“Frank* is a colonel stationed at a highly visible base in the West. Every morning, he and his fellow vaccination refusers are forced to perform what is intended to be a walk of shame. Frank and the members are publicly paraded before the other troops, then taken behind a building facing the busiest road through the base to have their nasal passages deeply swabbed in full view of every one of the hundreds of people passing by them. This is a psychological tactic meant to shame and demean resisters into compliance.”
The military is supposed to report back to the federal judge in early January. I don’t think he is going to be too pleased with this.