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TorchFireTech t1_isth011 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Boston University researchers claim to have developed new, more lethal COVID strain in lab - Researchers at Boston University added a spike protein from the Omicron variant with the original Wuhan strain, which has an 80% kill rate (in certain mice) by izumi3682

You overlooked the fact that they did made the Omicron strain more deadly. Omicron is MUCH more contagious than the original strain, but also less deadly. By combining super contagious Omicron strain with the deadly original strain, the combined chimeric strain has the worst of both worlds: high contagion and high mortality rate. It would potentially kill more people than any strain we have encountered so far.

Total deaths = Contagion rate * mortality rate * population (rough math)

  • Original strain: Low contagion * high mortality rate.
  • Omicron strain: High contagion * low mortality rate.
  • Boston U chimeric strain: High contagion * high mortality rate (worse than both individual strains).

The new strain would cause more deaths than either of the original strains would have caused. We benefit nothing by creating the worst possible strain of Covid in a lab, and risk everything.

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TichuBum t1_isu6yze wrote

Ah, and the spike protein is what causes the increase in contagiousness. Gotcha. Thank you.

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