{"id":1486663,"date":"2022-05-21T08:16:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T12:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1486663"},"modified":"2022-05-21T08:16:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T12:16:18","slug":"well-never-prove-covid-leaked-from-a-chinese-lab-unless-the-u-s-stops-helping-china-cover-up-the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/well-never-prove-covid-leaked-from-a-chinese-lab-unless-the-u-s-stops-helping-china-cover-up-the-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ll Never Prove COVID Leaked From a Chinese Lab Unless the U.S. Stops Helping China Cover Up the Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwell-never-prove-covid-leaked-from-a-chinese-lab-unless-the-u-s-stops-helping-china-cover-up-the-truth%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1486663&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>The only Covid narrative that doesn\u2019t directly aim to control people has to do with determining the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Discovering the origin of the virus should have been a top priority, but it was not. Why? Perhaps, instead of controlling people, the goal in this case was to cover for complicit behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are only two plausible competing virus origin hypotheses: \u201clab leak\u201d and \u201cwet market.\u201d Instead of imploring scientists to work together and discover the truth, then-National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/01\/11\/fauci-called-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-shiny-object-in-april-2020-email\/\">wrote<\/a> in an email to presidential medical advisor Anthony Fauci early in the pandemic: \u201cWondering if there is something NIH can do to help put down this very destructive conspiracy [i.e., \u2018lab leak\u2019], with what seems to be growing momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Knowing that SARS-CoV-1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC416634\/\">leaked<\/a> from a Chinese lab on at least two occasions in the early 2000s, why would Collins and Fauci be so quick to \u201cput down\u201d the lab leak hypothesis?\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Evidence Wuhan Lab Was Doing Risky Experiments<\/h2>\n<p>A 2016 publication in the premier journal PNAS entitled \u201cSARS-like WIV1-CoV poised for human emergence\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1517719113\">gave<\/a> us more than enough evidence that risky experiments were being conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Specifically, the authors stated: \u201cThis manuscript describes efforts to extend surveillance beyond sequence analysis, <em>constructing chimeric and full-length zoonotic coronaviruses to evaluate emergence potential<\/em>\u201d (emphasis mine).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the authors were creating novel viruses and determining how well they could infect human cells. A curious feature of SARS-CoV-2 is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8689951\/\">presence<\/a> of a furin cleavage site in its spike protein that gives it remarkable infectivity. Human cells display a specialized enzyme called \u201cfurin protease\u201d that can cleave the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at the furin cleavage site to facilitate efficient infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Surprisingly, this furin site is absent from the spike proteins of the closest known relatives of SARS-CoV-2, leading to the hypothesis that the furin site could easily have been inserted into a bat virus to create a \u201cchimeric coronavirus\u201d (i.e., SARS-CoV-2).\u00a0The importance of furin protease cleavage was well known to the PNAS researchers, as evidenced by their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/full\/10.1073\/pnas.1517719113\">statement<\/a>: \u201cDifferences in these regions of spike may yield <em>increased protease targeting, enhanced spike cleavage<\/em>, and\/or expanded tropism <em>leading to more robust infection for the epidemic SARS strains<\/em>\u201d (emphasis mine).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It was not until around May 2021 that enough scientists called out the politicization surrounding the origin of SARS-CoV-2 that Fauci (and shortly thereafter his megaphones, including Facebook) decided it was permissible to discuss the possibility of a lab leak. Perhaps this explains why, after an astonishing full year of unexplained rejections and delays by journal editors (in a time of Covid-19, when an avalanche of pandemic-related manuscripts was rushed to print in record time), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-021-92388-5\">research<\/a> from Nikolai Petrovsky\u2019s lab showing that the earliest strains of SARS-CoV-2 were extraordinarily human-adapted was not accepted for publication until June 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Prior to this hard-earned progress toward more open discussion, media outlets like CNN blared headlines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/03\/31\/health\/lab-leak-coronavirus-theory-comic-book-scn\/index.html\">equating<\/a> \u201clab leak\u201d to \u201csomething out of a comic book.\u201d With much of our attention now diluted by other concerns, once again a group of researchers led by Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona published a paper in February that attempted to take us back to 2020 and declare the \u201clab leak\u201d dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>There\u2019s No Proof Covid Originated in a Wet Market<\/h2>\n<p>Notably, this <a href=\"https:\/\/zenodo.org\/record\/6299600#.YoVMj-jMI2x\">paper<\/a> does not report a closely related sibling of SARS-CoV-2 displaying a spike protein with a furin cleavage site. It also does not explain why the earliest SARS-CoV-2 strains defied evolutionary theory with their incredible affinity for human cells over bats and other animals. Nor does it produce a shred of evidence that an infected animal at the seafood market transmitted the virus to a person.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still, the authors claim \u201cdispositive evidence\u201d in favor of the Wuhan market as the virus origin because: first, a cluster of early cases were allegedly geographically centered around the market; second, animals known to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 appear to have been sold at the market; and third, highly sensitive PCR testing detected evidence of the virus in various environmental samples at the market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The samples they described were taken between January and March 2020. But by January, with initial cases in Wuhan recorded in early December, the virus had already been spreading for at least one month. By mid-January, the virus had gone international.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the joint WHO-China <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/docs\/default-source\/coronaviruse\/final-joint-report_origins-studies-6-april-201.pdf?sfvrsn=4f5e5196_1&#038;download=true\">report<\/a> states: \u201cTransmission within the wider community in December could account for cases not associated with the Huanan market which, together with the presence of early cases not associated with that market, could suggest that the Huanan market was not the original source of the outbreak.\u201d None of the 457 live animals sampled at the market <a href=\"https:\/\/zenodo.org\/record\/6299600#.YoVMj-jMI2x\">tested<\/a> positive for SARS-CoV-2, so there simply cannot be \u201cdispositive evidence\u201d of zoonotic spread.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, nothing in the detailed analyses of the paper\u2019s authors eliminates the possibility that an infected person walked into the market and spread the virus. In fact, the few locations where live viruses were detected at the market are \u201clikely to reflect contamination from cases\u201d according to the WHO-China report. In other words, an infected person most likely deposited virus in these locations (i.e., walls, floors, etc.).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The authors of the study that reported the virus sampling referenced by Worobey et al. came to a different <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.researchsquare.com\/files\/rs-1370392\/v1_covered.pdf?c=1645813311\">conclusion<\/a> than Worobey et al. did: \u201cThus, the market might have acted as an amplifier due to the high number of visitors every day, causing many initially identified infection clusters in the early stage of the outbreak.\u201d According to these scientists, the market was likely a super-spreader event, not the origin of the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>What Other Data Is China Covering Up?<\/h2>\n<p>Curiously, 13 SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA sequences from the earliest stages of the pandemic were inexplicably deleted from an NIH database at the request of Chinese researchers. Thankfully, the sequences were recovered from the Google Cloud and <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/mbe\/article\/38\/12\/5211\/6353034\">analyzed<\/a> by Jesse Bloom.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the intrigue, Bloom\u2019s findings suggest that because Worobey et al. failed to include these deleted data in their study, their findings probably present an incomplete picture of the circulating viruses in Wuhan early in the pandemic. It\u2019s further intriguing that one of the Worobey et al. co-authors apparently attempted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2022\/03\/the-virus-hunting-nonprofit-at-the-center-of-the-lab-leak-controversy\">pressure<\/a> Bloom to retract his publication. Bloom\u2019s work should have us all wondering: What other vital data did Chinese researchers delete?<\/p>\n<p>There are nearly 40,000 wet markets in China; what are the odds that this particular market (that happens to be near a virology lab making \u201cchimeric coronaviruses\u201d) was the origin of this coronavirus pandemic? Setting that aside and looking at the totality of the data, both \u201clab leak\u201d and \u201cmarket\u201d virus origin hypotheses are still very much in play, as neither side has yet to present \u201cdispositive evidence\u201d on the origin of SARS-CoV-2.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still, politicized headlines from major news outlets continue to exclaim their wishful thinking: \u201cTrump\u2019s favorite COVID origin theory of a Wuhan lab leak just got crushed by new research,\u201d as Fortune <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/02\/28\/covid-wuhan-trump-lab-leak-study-market-animal-human-transmission\/\">headlined<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Why Chinese and U.S. Elites Want to Hide the Truth<\/h2>\n<p>Either way, whether lab or market origin, anyone trying to cover for China apparently must be reminded that both scenarios are humiliating for the Chinese government. Both represent extremely careless and unhygienic behavior, especially considering that wet markets are places where endangered animals like pangolins are slaughtered for completely unscientific medicines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The difference, of course, is that the lab scenario also implicates powerful interests in the United States. Thus, it\u2019s not difficult to understand why stifling the lab leak would be important to those in power.<\/p>\n<p>Covid caused those in power to react to events that they had little to no influence over with narratives designed to give the illusion of taking control of the situation. What makes this pandemic different are the tools available to control the narratives, namely the addition of Big Tech and their willingness to suppress debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still, the truism noted by Aldous Huxley that \u201cfacts do not cease to exist because they are ignored\u201d remains. The challenge is to ensure that people in our society are never too intimidated to offer counter-narratives or debate the edicts from those with power.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Pat Fidopiastis, Ph.D., is a professor of microbiology at California State Polytechnic University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The only Covid narrative that doesn\u2019t directly aim to control people has to do with determining the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Discovering the origin of the virus should have been a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1486663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}