Posted on 10/18/2022 3:21:41 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Boston University issued a statement Tuesday defending its research of a COVID-19 Omicron strain when they took the variant’s spike protein and attached it to the original COVID-19 strain, leading to a higher mortality rate in a certain species of mice, triggering concern among lawmakers.
“The Omicron S-bearing virus robustly escapes vaccine-induced humoral immunity, mainly due to mutations in the receptor-binding motif… while Omicron causes mild, non-fatal infection, the Omicron S-carrying virus inflicts severe disease with a mortality rate of 80 percent,” the preprint study said.
One lawmaker, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), said that the research entailed “lethal gain of function virus research” that creates the “potential to kill more people than any singular nuclear weapon.” Marshal, a doctor, added that “viruses have managed to escape even the most secure labs” and said such “research must stop immediately while the risks and benefits can be investigated.”
Meanwhile, Emily Erbelding, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’s division of microbiology and infectious diseases, told Stat News that the Boston University’s grant application didn’t specify that researchers wanted to perform this work and the group did not say it was performing experiments to possible enhance a COVID-19 variant. An investigation is now underway, she said.
Boston University issued a lengthy statement defending its research and said critics have misrepresented the goals of the study while refuting allegations that the study involved gain-of-function research, which can make a pathogen more deadly or transmissible.
“The research was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), which consists of scientists as well as local community members,” the statement from Boston University said. “The Boston Public Health Commission also approved the research. Furthermore, this research mirrors and reinforces the findings of other, similar research performed by other organizations, including the FDA. Ultimately, this research will provide a public benefit by leading to better, targeted therapeutic interventions to help fight against future pandemics.”
Certain reports about the study were “false and inaccurate,” Boston University official Ronald Corley said in a statement. A report from the Daily Mail, he alleged, took the “80 percent” line out of context.
“We want to address the false and inaccurate reporting about Boston University COVID-19 research, which appeared today in the Daily Mail,” said the statement. “First, this research is not gain-of-function research, meaning it did not amplify the Washington state SARS-CoV-2 virus strain or make it more dangerous. In fact, this research made the virus replicate less dangerous.”
Addressing concerns that the manipulated COVID-19 Omicron strain could escape Boston University’s laboratory, Corley said the school takes safety seriously.
“We take our safety and security of how we handle pathogens seriously, and the virus does not leave the laboratory in which it’s being studied,” he said. “Our whole goal is for the public’s health. And this study was part of that, finding what part of the virus is responsible for causing severe disease. If we can understand that, we can then develop the tools that we need to develop better therapeutics.”
Read more here...
FUBU.
when I was a kid that was called biological warfare research.
Isn’t this the place that polished off AOC?
Boston University needs Nuked from orbit, just to be sure. Sterilize with Fire.
Someone paid BU to do this.
WHO WAS IT.
RE: Isn’t this the place that polished off AOC?
Yep, she got her Bachelors degree in Economics from BU if it was worth anything...
“We have to kill surplus eaters for the WEF and Schwab!” - mad scientists
There is no defense for this. None at all. It is criminal and irresponsible.
She got a BS in Foreign Relations with a Minor in Economics.
That’s 5 total - 100 & 200 level classes.
RE: Someone paid BU to do this. WHO WAS IT.
EXCERPT:
“The experiments reported in this manuscript were carried out with funds from Boston University. NIAID funding was acknowledged because it was used to help develop the tools and platforms that were used in this research; they did not fund this research directly,” the university added. “NIH funding was also acknowledged for a shared instrumentation grant that helped support the pathology studies. We believe that funding streams for tools do not require an obligation to report.”
The university is “in continued conversation with NIAID leadership and program officers,” BU said.
STAT News had reported that the BU researchers had not given NIAID a heads-up about the specific experiments involving a hybrid COVID strain.
NIAID did not immediately respond to comment on Tuesday.
BU continues to stress that the research was not gain-of-function research, meaning it did not amplify the original virus from 2020 or make it more dangerous.
“If at any point there was evidence that the research was gaining function, under both NIAID and our own protocols we would immediately stop and report,” BU said. “All research at Boston University, whether funded by NIAID or not, follows this same protocol.”
“Someone paid BU to do this.”
Yep, colleges do absolutely nothing unless fully funded+
This is the University that gave AOC a degree in Economics!
What could possibly go wrong?
FWIW, I don’t buy that.
If we get our republic back, haul these expletives-deleted before Congress, place them under oath, and see if they tell the same story under penalty of perjury.
“Isn’t this the place that polished off AOC?...”
Yeah. This the joint that takes ho bartenders and turns em into “congressional economic geniuses”. /s
“..Someone paid BU to do this. WHO WAS IT....”
Best guess: Fauxi via of the RATs/DS.
They didn’t kill enough the first go around. People and buyin’ into the clot shot like they thought they would so they’re out to make a bigger, badder better variant.
There’s people that need to publicly hang for this evil BS.
NIAID. So Fauci paid for it. Like he paid for the original COVID-19 in Wuhan. I think he is proud of it, like a papa and wants to see it blossom into full potential as the source of a civilization ending plague.
Nuke the entire site from orbit—it’s the only way to be sure
It’s not just AOC. It is possible for people to get degrees in economics from major universities and know little about economics.
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