Posted on 01/05/2022 1:18:05 PM PST by devane617
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing recently reported intriguing new evidence for a possible mouse origin of the Omicron variant. Their paper, posted on the BioRxiv preprint server, was quickly picked up and published a few days later by the Journal of Genetics and Genomics, and defies the prevailing theory which claims that the polymutant spike sequence of Omicron must have evolved under protracted infection in a severely immunocompromised patient.
Their main idea is that a mouse could have somehow been infected with the human virus by "reverse zoonotic transfer," whereupon the virus evolved all or many of its 45 novel mutations, and then subsequently was transferred back to humans. While this theory might explain why Omicron appears so anomalous when plotted on a phylogenetic tree against the usual suspects, there is one major problem: The mouse homolog of the human ACE2 receptor (hACE2), which the virus typically uses to gain entry into cells, has little affinity for the standard issue SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
So little in fact, that in order to study the virus in this preferred research animal, scientists must artificially introduce hACE2 in order to create mice that show any significant respiratory distress upon infection. These transgenic mice are made in several ways, each showing unique tissue tropisms, penetrance and correspondingly different effects. Researchers have conducted knock-in experiments in which the human hACE2 sequence is integrated into the host genome and induced under the control of a number of different promoters. Adenoviruses can also be used to infect cells and create replicating plasmids that propagate the hACE2 code.
Ok, in my shallow mind, this report from the Chinese states that for it to be true an engineered mouse must have been created? If true, were the Chinese reengineering the Covid strain to get a new variant? This is way above my pay grade, but my alarm bells are ringing. Please help...
More likely came from a rat. A communist one
a logitec mouse?
Was it a European Mouse or an African Mouse? An African Mouse could carry a virus that weighs as much as a coconut.
"I don't know....AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
It may as well have been Micky Mouse given the severity of he illness.
With Billy Gates involvement, I’m fairly certain it was a Microsoft mouse.
A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence
Sounds strangely familiar, including the mouse bit.
Mighty Mouse? Mickey Mouse?
Hairless.
“Ok, in my shallow mind, this report from the Chinese states that for it to be true an engineered mouse must have been created? “
No. The reviewer is explaining why it is unlikely to be true.
Danger Mouse…
A Fauxi Mouse, or a Mouse from a Louse.
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