Scientists crossed the Wuhan strain with the Omicron variant. According to them, it is a way of deepening knowledge about the virus, for others, it is an irresponsible act.
- The Omicron variant appeared at the end of 2021, and quickly became the majority all over the world.
- Its differences from the original virus, identified in Wuhan, would be mainly linked to the Spike protein.
- According to Boston University, the objective of the study was to understand which part of the virus is responsible for severe forms, in order to find effective treatments thereafter.
Science or unconsciousness? A study from Boston University is at the heart of the debate. In a lab test, the authors fused Omicron’s Spike protein with the original strain of the virus, identified in Wuhan. An experiment on mice showed that this new virus is 80% deadly in rodents. The results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed (a method of critical evaluation of scientific results), have been pre-published on the site biorxiv.
Scientists opposed to the creation of new viruses from Covid-19
In the document, they explain that they carried out this work to better understand the pathogenic capacity of Omicron. But some researchers consider this work irresponsible. “Given the high likelihood that the Covid pandemic originated from the leak of a lab-engineered coronavirus in Wuhan, these experiments seem deeply reckless.”believes, for example, David Livermore, professor of microbiology at the British University of East Anglia, in the Daily Email. On Twitter, Shmuel Shapira, professor and former director of the Biological Institute of the Israeli Ministry of Defense is more vehement: “CIt should be totally banned, it’s playing with fire.”
This should be totally forbidden, Its playing with fire.
Boston University CREATES new Covid strain that has an 80% kill rate https://t.co/4zSmwcsjmi— Prof. Shmuel C. Shapira MD MPH (@shmuelcshapira) October 17, 2022
‘Misleading claims’ against modified Covid-19 virus study
But Boston University defends itself, in a communicated appeared following the publication of the article of the Daily Email. “Boston University refutes a series of misleading claims regarding research at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), indicates the text. The articles, which first appeared in the UK’s Daily Mail on Monday, claimed that researchers at the lab had ‘created a deadly new strain of Covid’.
For university officials, the article is “false and inaccurate”. “They sensationalised the message, they misrepresent the entire study and its objectives“, estimates Ronald B. Corley, director of the NEIDL. According to the university, the objective of this work was to study the Spike proteins of the Omicron BA.1 variant, and to compare them with the Wuhan strain to check whether the new variant is really less virulent. So they “interested in the part of the virus that dictates the severity of a disease a person will contract”the spike protein.
Researchers deny having deliberately created a more dangerous Covid
In his article, the Daily Email speaks of a gain-of-function experiment: this expression refers to the fact of modifying viruses in the laboratory to make them more transmissible or more virulent. But Boston University denies having pursued such an objective.
“This research is not a gain-of-function experiment, meaning it did not amplify the Sars-CoV-2 virus strain, or make it more dangerous.”, says the university. On the contrary, it would have made the replications of the virus less dangerous, according to its authors.
Researchers at Boston University protest that only the figure of 80% deaths in mice came out in the article. According to them, this information is “out of context” and “has nothing to do with the effect of the virus on humans.”The animal model that was used was a particular type of very sensitive mouse,” explains Ronald B. Corley. Moreover, he insisted on one point: the security conditions were scrupulously respected. “The virus does not leave the laboratory in which it is studied”he assures.
