Coronavirus
Coronavirus
Out of context: Reply #6161
- Started 5 years ago
- Last post 23 days ago
- 6,413 Responses
- yuekit0
The evidence remains clear: SARS-CoV-2 emerged via the wildlife trade
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073…
A good review of the existing evidence and theories advanced by each side. The idea that virologists and other scientists didn't seriously look at this possibility of it coming from a lab is wrong...they did.
But once you go beyond the coincidence of a lab being in the same city (which is a city the size of London or NYC), there just isn't good evidence to support it.
- the author works for https://zalgen.com & https://gvn.orgshapesalad
- similar to other summaries i've read. where they explain how little we know about how viruses 'jump' over huge differences and between specieskingsteven
- debunk a load of daft conspiracies but come to a conclusion that it emerged within the wildlife trade because it's much more likely (and propose a ban)kingsteven
- it's right, but doesn't eliminate the chance of it being anything to do with an (admittedly unlikely) accidental lab release. or propose any changes therekingsteven
- why shouldn't a ban be on all non-livestock in cities? swiss-cheese model n all that, no proof of difference in risk from one instance of exposurekingsteven
- *differences = distanceskingsteven
- You're right that you can never totally disprove or eliminate the chance, it's more a question of likelihood.yuekit
- What I find interesting is how the lab leak side repeatedly uses complex pseudoscientific arguments that make it look like a lab leak is overwhelminglyyuekit
- likely, and this generates the perception for the public. But when in examined in detail, their arguments are almost always BS.yuekit
- This doesn't just apply to fringe conspiracy theorists but the main people promoting the lab theory like DRASTIC, Alina Chan, Richard Ebright who are oftenyuekit
- cited as sources by journalists. There were also a number of fake stories planted by the Trump admin and by overseas Chinese groups as documented here...yuekit
- https://www.wsws.org…yuekit
- So the reality is weirdly the opposite of how it's been portrayed, where scientists are unfairly dismissing this idea but a few brave independent thinkers stoodyuekit
- up to tell you the truth. Like you said that doesn't discredit it entirely but it's a very different narrative from what most people have been led to believe.yuekit
- i think shape illustrates the typical iconoclastic response above. this sort of article has a very defined audience due to the author presentingkingsteven
- his experience with ebola as an argument to strengthen his case (to any critic it only serves as evidence of bias) - to anyone like myself who otherwise agreeskingsteven
- it makes the facts read as an opinion piece (which it is) when what we want is an inverse meta-analysis disproving the bullshitkingsteven
- What makes this topic so difficult is that the arguments hinge on very technical details, for instance in this paper he explains why the furin cleavage siteyuekit
- of SARS-CoV-2 actually suggests it wasn't engineered -- it's an out of frame insertion into the genome that makes no sense for a virologist to include.yuekit
- To virologists these are very strong arguments against lab origin (another one is the finding that there were two different lineages that couldn't have evolvedyuekit
- from each other, so were there two lab leaks, both at an animal market?).yuekit
- yep, i just mean the anecdotal additions by the author only detract from the (clear cut) data. and his conclusion doesn't address the cause of conspiracykingsteven
- (racism, mistrust in international scientific community, mistrust in government, actual recorded lab-leaks, nuanced disputes about crispr)kingsteven
- it would be a good starting point for more targeted articles or essential reading for thanksgiving dinner argument take-downs with a dickhead brother-in-lawkingsteven
- I'm Chinese myself but I wouldn't blame it on racism. If you look at how the lab leak theory started, it was actually promoted by overseas Chinese groups likeyuekit
- the Falun Gong cult and the Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who hired Steve Bannon to run online disinfo campaigns. These groups are connected with theyuekit
- Trump administration, so in the beginning it was really an attempt to use the origin of the pandemic to continue the Trump admin's assault against China.yuekit