Alex: Thank you very much for this tour de force. I agree that the creation of this virus was intentional, but the leak an accident. By the way, the virus did not kill a million Americans. A not insignificant number of the deaths were iatrogenic (ventilators, refusal of clearly effective early treatment, sending sick people back to nursing homes); a more significant number by four factors: 1. A PCR test not fit for purpose; 2. A change in the way death certificates attributed cause of death; 3. CMS monetarily incentivizing hospitals to attribute covid illness to as many patients os possible; and 4. Incentivizing hospitals with a 20% increase on the entire bill for using, to the exclusion of all other drugs, the very toxic (especially renal toxicity) and very expensive, Remdesivir. This is an enormous rabbit hole I'd be delighted to see you dive into, but perhaps the new Congress will do so in January (Not holding my breath, though, that Congress is capable of doing anything useful ).
Nov 3, 2022·edited Nov 3, 2022Liked by Alex Washburne
I would add a fifth key piece of evidence to the lab origin, the fact that SARS-CoV-2 Spike had the highest affinity for human ACE2 of all animal species tested, including bats [e.g., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34558627/]. There is no scenario of a recent zoonotic event that can account for this observation. I specify recent because of the 2012 miners in southwest China who were sick with a coronavirus for months: samples from them were sent to the WIV in Wuhan and it is possible Spike would have evolved to maximise interaction with human ACE2 during the long illness, but even in this scenario, the virus would be coming from the lab.
One really amazing outcome of the Covid era has been that I have been introduced to so many truly stellar intellects - Alex Washburne PhD possesses one of those intellects. Nothing more delightful to take into one's synapses than a scintillating conversation with a coherent mind! Thanks Alex!!!
I need to read this again more carefully but first read is edifying &from a high perspective- you make good sense. Submit this & Bruttel et al in an upper tier peer reviewed journal. The feedback you get will be incredibly valuable (just think of it) and it will fly somewhere. Best of luck.
Great work! I was looking for the definitive article and here it is. The fourth piece of evidence, "the restriction map of an infectious clone" is the icing on an already well made cake! Thank you Alex
Very impressive. And well written. I am neither a virologist nor an epidemiologist, but I have a strong background in medical research, and I appreciate the clarity you provided that helped me to understand the major arguments. The comments from others with a medical background are helpful too. I'm subscribing.
You wrote: "If we made a virus more capable of infecting people, it might reveal the essence of human-infective viruses and help us prepare vaccines before a pandemic ever happens." Are you aware of any cases where this has actually happened? Can you provide a reference? Thank you.
I am a fan of crime novels. Today, genetic fingerprinting with DNA studies has surpassed fingerprints in confusing the culprit. As a wink, the title of one of ROBIN COOK's latest novels which deals with genetic genealogy is called ORIGINE in the French translation. So I really appreciate the way you tell this story by comparing it to a police investigation where each lead must be explored and all the pieces of the puzzle assembled. I see lots of little post-it notes on the investigators' board that are being put together little by little. You discussed the motive, the circumstances, the weapon on which there are fingerprints and the hypothesis of an accident is indeed the most probable. What still seems uncertain to me is the date of the accident and possibly its place. Because how then to explain the positive Sars cov 2 serological studies from September and even positive pre-pandemic PCRs, particularly in Italy. “The first sample showing signs of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was from September 12, 2019, and the positive patient was also positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG and IgM). »
Molecular evidence for SARS-CoV-2 in samples collected from patients with morbilliform eruptions since late 2019 in Lombardy, northern Italy - ScienceDirect
This element alone should have raised doubts about the origin of the Wuhan market and led to exploring other avenues much earlier and perhaps not necessarily in Wuhan.
the world military games were held in wuhan in october 2019 (110 countries)…
By the way, it never gets mentioned, but it's clear that when Daszak & Co were branding the lab leak hypothesis a "conspiracy theory", they were (intentionally or not) conflating an accidental lab leak with an intentional one. While it's true that intentional lab leak was all the rage in the usual "conspiracy" circles at the time, it does not absolve them of this egregious conflation. They were obviously just too happy to have made it.
Allen: Well put. I largely agree with you, except for one point: I defer to Alex on this, as he, like many other scientists have shown ironclad proof that an engineered, pathogenic virus was created in U.S. and Canadian labs, and the WIV. It must have escaped from the WIV. No other explanation fits the facts. It did kill some people, but not very many, any more than influenza does in most years. The best realistic estimate I have seen for American deaths is 30,000. We don't know, and never will, what the true number is.. Our "public health" system is completely broken, through a combination of incompetence, political meddling, and commercial capture of the regulatory system. What breaks my heart, and makes me look forward with eagerness to the prosecution of these criminals responsible for this clown show, is what they've done to the children. They belong in the lowest rung of hell for targeting children with this medical experiment, with the denial of their educational opportunities, with the trauma of fear. I'm a political independent, but the current administration is the worst, most incompetent, and down right nasty that I've seem in my lifetime, and I can remember as far back as President Eisenhower. Tomorrow I'm voting against all incumbents, except for a few of the good judges. .
Addendum to my previous comment: Dr. Ioannidis has calculated the IFR of covid at a level roughly equivalent to a bad seasonal flu (somewhere around 0.12, as I recall). Bearing in mind that CDC typically reports 50,000-80,000 influenza deaths per year (the CDC is famous for manipulating data; I believe it was 2009 that they began conflating influenza and pneumonia data [INP]; most of the deaths actually were from pneumonia). Influenza deaths are typically 1-2,000 per year. If we accept the figure of 50,000-80,000, the reported one million deaths from covid are 15-20 times over-reported. God bless you, Alex, for the ethical imperative which drives your work as a scientist. We’ve been repeatedly lied to by people of limited intelligence and lacking in the decency we expect in our interpersonal relations and our political leadership. The Democrats have been primarily responsible for this over the past two years, but the Republicans are just as talented at stupidity. Such is human nature. Bless you for sharing your insights with a public oh so ready for truth.
Great article. Now apply your intelligence to understanding that Putin is not doing a bad thing in Ukraine. The totality of evidence suggests he is the good guy here.
Alex: Thank you very much for this tour de force. I agree that the creation of this virus was intentional, but the leak an accident. By the way, the virus did not kill a million Americans. A not insignificant number of the deaths were iatrogenic (ventilators, refusal of clearly effective early treatment, sending sick people back to nursing homes); a more significant number by four factors: 1. A PCR test not fit for purpose; 2. A change in the way death certificates attributed cause of death; 3. CMS monetarily incentivizing hospitals to attribute covid illness to as many patients os possible; and 4. Incentivizing hospitals with a 20% increase on the entire bill for using, to the exclusion of all other drugs, the very toxic (especially renal toxicity) and very expensive, Remdesivir. This is an enormous rabbit hole I'd be delighted to see you dive into, but perhaps the new Congress will do so in January (Not holding my breath, though, that Congress is capable of doing anything useful ).
I would add a fifth key piece of evidence to the lab origin, the fact that SARS-CoV-2 Spike had the highest affinity for human ACE2 of all animal species tested, including bats [e.g., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34558627/]. There is no scenario of a recent zoonotic event that can account for this observation. I specify recent because of the 2012 miners in southwest China who were sick with a coronavirus for months: samples from them were sent to the WIV in Wuhan and it is possible Spike would have evolved to maximise interaction with human ACE2 during the long illness, but even in this scenario, the virus would be coming from the lab.
This is the best piece on the lab leak hypothesis I’ve seen- it should be widely shared and... published.
One really amazing outcome of the Covid era has been that I have been introduced to so many truly stellar intellects - Alex Washburne PhD possesses one of those intellects. Nothing more delightful to take into one's synapses than a scintillating conversation with a coherent mind! Thanks Alex!!!
Alex,
You are officially responsible for breaking Rumble. Our discussion has 170k in 18 hours, and now it takes a while to look any time you pull it up.
https://rumble.com/v1qtgvo-synthetic-fingerprint-of-sars-cov-2-round-table-w-alex-washburne-phd-and-ke.html
Rumble isn't ready for this level of virality. They'll have to update their pandemic preparedness.
I need to read this again more carefully but first read is edifying &from a high perspective- you make good sense. Submit this & Bruttel et al in an upper tier peer reviewed journal. The feedback you get will be incredibly valuable (just think of it) and it will fly somewhere. Best of luck.
Great work! I was looking for the definitive article and here it is. The fourth piece of evidence, "the restriction map of an infectious clone" is the icing on an already well made cake! Thank you Alex
Very impressive. And well written. I am neither a virologist nor an epidemiologist, but I have a strong background in medical research, and I appreciate the clarity you provided that helped me to understand the major arguments. The comments from others with a medical background are helpful too. I'm subscribing.
Incredible piece of work. Thank you
You wrote: "If we made a virus more capable of infecting people, it might reveal the essence of human-infective viruses and help us prepare vaccines before a pandemic ever happens." Are you aware of any cases where this has actually happened? Can you provide a reference? Thank you.
I am a fan of crime novels. Today, genetic fingerprinting with DNA studies has surpassed fingerprints in confusing the culprit. As a wink, the title of one of ROBIN COOK's latest novels which deals with genetic genealogy is called ORIGINE in the French translation. So I really appreciate the way you tell this story by comparing it to a police investigation where each lead must be explored and all the pieces of the puzzle assembled. I see lots of little post-it notes on the investigators' board that are being put together little by little. You discussed the motive, the circumstances, the weapon on which there are fingerprints and the hypothesis of an accident is indeed the most probable. What still seems uncertain to me is the date of the accident and possibly its place. Because how then to explain the positive Sars cov 2 serological studies from September and even positive pre-pandemic PCRs, particularly in Italy. “The first sample showing signs of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was from September 12, 2019, and the positive patient was also positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG and IgM). »
Molecular evidence for SARS-CoV-2 in samples collected from patients with morbilliform eruptions since late 2019 in Lombardy, northern Italy - ScienceDirect
This element alone should have raised doubts about the origin of the Wuhan market and led to exploring other avenues much earlier and perhaps not necessarily in Wuhan.
the world military games were held in wuhan in october 2019 (110 countries)…
The best case and summary of Covid 19 origins I've read to date! Thank you!
Thank you for this great piece!
By the way, it never gets mentioned, but it's clear that when Daszak & Co were branding the lab leak hypothesis a "conspiracy theory", they were (intentionally or not) conflating an accidental lab leak with an intentional one. While it's true that intentional lab leak was all the rage in the usual "conspiracy" circles at the time, it does not absolve them of this egregious conflation. They were obviously just too happy to have made it.
Allen: Well put. I largely agree with you, except for one point: I defer to Alex on this, as he, like many other scientists have shown ironclad proof that an engineered, pathogenic virus was created in U.S. and Canadian labs, and the WIV. It must have escaped from the WIV. No other explanation fits the facts. It did kill some people, but not very many, any more than influenza does in most years. The best realistic estimate I have seen for American deaths is 30,000. We don't know, and never will, what the true number is.. Our "public health" system is completely broken, through a combination of incompetence, political meddling, and commercial capture of the regulatory system. What breaks my heart, and makes me look forward with eagerness to the prosecution of these criminals responsible for this clown show, is what they've done to the children. They belong in the lowest rung of hell for targeting children with this medical experiment, with the denial of their educational opportunities, with the trauma of fear. I'm a political independent, but the current administration is the worst, most incompetent, and down right nasty that I've seem in my lifetime, and I can remember as far back as President Eisenhower. Tomorrow I'm voting against all incumbents, except for a few of the good judges. .
Addendum to my previous comment: Dr. Ioannidis has calculated the IFR of covid at a level roughly equivalent to a bad seasonal flu (somewhere around 0.12, as I recall). Bearing in mind that CDC typically reports 50,000-80,000 influenza deaths per year (the CDC is famous for manipulating data; I believe it was 2009 that they began conflating influenza and pneumonia data [INP]; most of the deaths actually were from pneumonia). Influenza deaths are typically 1-2,000 per year. If we accept the figure of 50,000-80,000, the reported one million deaths from covid are 15-20 times over-reported. God bless you, Alex, for the ethical imperative which drives your work as a scientist. We’ve been repeatedly lied to by people of limited intelligence and lacking in the decency we expect in our interpersonal relations and our political leadership. The Democrats have been primarily responsible for this over the past two years, but the Republicans are just as talented at stupidity. Such is human nature. Bless you for sharing your insights with a public oh so ready for truth.
Great article. Now apply your intelligence to understanding that Putin is not doing a bad thing in Ukraine. The totality of evidence suggests he is the good guy here.