US lab ‘playing with fire’ as it creates hybrid super-covid ‘with an 80% kill rate’

A US lab has been accused of “playing with fire” after it created a hybrid super-covid that killed 80% of the mice it was tested on. Boston University scientists combined Omicron and the original Wuhan strain, despite the fact that sort of research is what is thought to be behind the Covid pandemic. Gain-of-function research improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease in a bid to inform public health and preparedness efforts, but it can also expose people to the virus inadvertently.

Professor Shmuel Shapira, a leading scientist in the Israeli Government, said: “This should be totally forbidden, it’s playing with fire.”

Dr Richard Ebright, a chemist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that: “The research is a clear example of gain of function research. He added: “If we are to avoid a next lab-generated pandemic, it is imperative that oversight of enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research be strengthened.” The title stated that researchers from Boston and Florida combined Omicron’s most dangerous element, its spike protein, and combined it with that of the original Wuhan strain. The virus uses the spike protein to latch on to and enter the cells it infects. Omicron’s spike has dozens of mutations, making it particularly infectious.

When a group of mice were exposed to standard Omicron, they all survived and only experienced ‘mild’ symptoms. However, 80% of those exposed to the hybrid strain perished.

About the Author: Patriotman

Patriotman currently ekes out a survivalist lifestyle in a suburban northeastern state as best as he can. He has varied experience in political science, public policy, biological sciences, and higher education. Proudly Catholic and an Eagle Scout, he has no military experience and thus offers a relatable perspective for the average suburban prepper who is preparing for troubled times on the horizon with less than ideal teams and in less than ideal locations. Brushbeater Store Page: http://bit.ly/BrushbeaterStore

4 Comments

Ghostmann October 19, 2022 at 10:51

Yet people think that minor reforms around the edges will fix this.

Sometimes, a collpase is exactly what is needed to purge the shit out.
Felix October 19, 2022 at 13:07

One aspect of “prepping” is that it could enable isolation from contacts with other people should a high mortality bug get loose around you. How this might be played out for and within mutual assistance groups is a whole ‘nother chapter I think.
- Black 3 October 19, 2022 at 15:56
  
  We just went through that exercise two years ago with expected results. Why do you think this would be different?
Felix October 19, 2022 at 18:21

I think it would be different for _many_ (not all), because more people have had direct experience in all of the phases and permutations we/they were sent through the wringer with since two years ago..
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Too many folk now understand that highly infectious bugs are either the gift of their “leaders” or that their “leaders” have little to no power to protect them from such gifts.
The upcoming games might suggest need for some new strategies…Like… Quarantine.
Maybe better than “bugout” coming to a neighborhood near you soon.