New Boston virus

Professor Shmuel Shapira, lead scientist, Israeli Government

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11323677/Outrage-Boston-University-CREATES-Covid-strain-80-kill-rate.html

This should be totally forbidden, it's playing with fire

Dr Richard Ebright, Rutgers University, New Brunswick

The research is a clear example of gain of function research.

If we are to avoid a next lab-generated pandemic,

it is imperative that oversight of enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research be strengthened.

it is imperative that officials at US-government agencies,

who repeatedly have placed the public at risk by repeatedly violating the existing policies be held accountable

Prof David Livermore, microbiology, University of East Anglia

given the strong likelihood that the Covid pandemic originated from the escape of a lab-manipulated coronavirus in Wuhan,

these experiments seem profoundly unwise

Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories is one of 13 biosafety level 4 labs in the US

Role of spike in the pathogenic and antigenic behavior of SARS-CoV-2 BA.1 Omicron

14th October 2022

Boston University School of Medicine

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.13.512134v1

Predominant SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (BA.1) is highly transmissible,

even in fully vaccinated individuals,

and causes attenuated disease compared with other major viral variants recognized to date

The Omicron spike (S) protein, unusually large number of mutations,

is considered the major driver of these phenotypes

We generated chimeric recombinant SARS-CoV-2

A chimera or chimeric virus

One virus containing genetic material derived from two or more distinct viruses

US Center for Veterinary Biologics

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/vet_biologics/publications/notice_05_23.pdf

A new hybrid microorganism,

created by joining nucleic acid fragments from two or more different microorganisms,

in which each of at least two of the fragments,

contain essential genes necessary for replication

We generated chimeric recombinant SARS-CoV-2

Encoding the S gene of Omicron in the backbone of an ancestral SARS-CoV-2 isolate,

and compared this virus with the naturally circulating Omicron variant.

The Omicron S-bearing virus robustly escapes vaccine-induced humoral immunity,

mainly due to mutations in the receptor-binding motif,

yet unlike naturally occurring Omicron,

efficiently replicates in cell lines and primary-like distal lung cells.

In K18-hACE2 mice

https://www.jax.org/strain/034860

K18-hACE2 transgenic mice express human ACE2,

including airway epithelia where infections typically begin.

Because K18-hACE2 are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV viruses, they are useful for studying antiviral therapies to COVID-19 and SARS.

In K18-hACE2 mice

Omicron causes mild, non-fatal infection,

the Omicron S-carrying virus inflicts severe disease with a mortality rate of 80%.

This indicates that while the vaccine escape of Omicron is defined by mutations in S,

major determinants of viral pathogenicity reside outside of S.

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, 1818

Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world (1831 edition)