Submitted by izumi3682 t3_y6zw1j in Futurology
CONGRATS guys, such an accomplishment...so which one of you is Luci?
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” - Geoff Goldblam
Submission statement from OP. Note: This submission statement "locks in" after about 30 minutes, and can no longer be edited. Please refer to my statement they link, which I can continue to edit. I often edit my submission statement, sometimes for the next few days if needs must. There is often required additional grammatical editing and additional added detail.
From the article.
>Researchers at Boston University say they have developed a new COVID strain that has an 80% kill rate following a series of similar experiments first thought to have started the global pandemic that began in China.
>The variant, a combination of Omicron and the original virus in Wuhan, killed 80% of the mice infected with it, the university said. When mice were only exposed to Omicron, they experienced mild symptoms.
And.
>They extracted the spike protein from Omicron and attached it with the strain first detected at the onset of the pandemic that began in Wuhan, China. They then documented how the mice reacted to the hybrid strain.
>"In…mice, while Omicron causes mild, non-fatal infection, the Omicron S-carrying virus inflicts severe disease with a mortality rate of 80 percent," they wrote in a research paper.
>The new strain has five times more infectious virus particles than the Omicron variant, researchers said.
As of the time of my posting this (2:29 AM CDT), this story is very recently released, only about 2 hours ago. So it is possible that this is false story or misleading information, but I got a feeling that it is not. Time will tell.
Anyway I wonder at the reasoning for attempting such "gain of function" in a clearly demonstrated highly contagious disease. At least it wasn't kept a secret, right? Or maybe it shoulda been...
You know why they allowed us to stop wearing masks in the US? Because the CDC said everybody in the US has already had it or is already vaccinated. Well, I was vaccinated with 2 damn shots and a booster and I still got it anyways in the last week of August this year. I was surprised and stunned. I totally thought I had dodged the bullet. My case was very mild with just some fever for few days and some cough and mild SOB. I was COVID positive for almost exactly 14 days. I'm age 62. Now I got my 2nd booster and I hope I'll be better off. (lol! Who am I kidding?)
Not to get too "tin-hatty" but it seems to me this would be a terrific way to clean the world up in a jiffy if the societal SHTF. And not leave everything all radioactive, if you take my meaning.
You might find this essay I wrote in 2018, interesting.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/8sa5cy/my_commentary_about_this_article_serving_the_2/
"So how do you know it is more deadly?"
"We... know. Please do not enter University area, the guards in biohazard suits will use lethal force if necessary. And my dear wife - if you hear me - I love you."
better article from a more legitimate source where they clarify explicitly not a gain of function experiment, and contrary to OP's headline, did not make the virus more contagious or deadly. From what I understand, put in plain terms, they combined 2 strains of the virus in order to prove that it was not the spike protein that made omicron more deadly.
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Tell China that we finished they bio weapon for them
80% mortality rate. So I'm guessing the 20% that were left over probably weren't doing too great either.
If something like this got out you would still have a large portion of the population saying they know they will be the 1 in 5 that are okay. Not contemplating the being okay in that scenario probably at least means being on oxygen the rest of your life and permanently feeling like you're almost a hundred years old and probably the functional equivalent.
Can't wait for the new Plague Inc. game to come out.
Appreciate the additional source, but they objectively created the most contagious and deadly strain of Covid by chimerically combining a strain that was highly contagious with another one that had a high death rate. We already know that Covid strains could mutate to become be even worse than what we’ve seen, so this experiment does nothing except risk another pandemic and millions of deaths. It should never have been done and shouldn’t be defended.
Thought Omicron was less deadly, more contagious. Was told this was the natural evolution of viruses. Was I mislead?
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I felt so guilty for playing that game with every cheat you can purchase, “evolving with the power of a God” in the spring of 2020 that I can’t play it anymore. Not even the ridiculous ones.
So yeah that makes a big difference. Just a few words.
But who trusts newspapers?/s
The following submission statement was provided by /u/izumi3682:
Submission statement from OP. Note: This submission statement "locks in" after about 30 minutes, and can no longer be edited. Please refer to my statement they link, which I can continue to edit. I often edit my submission statement, sometimes for the next few days if needs must. There is often required additional grammatical editing and additional added detail.
From the article.
>Researchers at Boston University say they have developed a new COVID strain that has an 80% kill rate following a series of similar experiments first thought to have started the global pandemic that began in China.
>The variant, a combination of Omicron and the original virus in Wuhan, killed 80% of the mice infected with it, the university said. When mice were only exposed to Omicron, they experienced mild symptoms.
And.
>They extracted the spike protein from Omicron and attached it with the strain first detected at the onset of the pandemic that began in Wuhan, China. They then documented how the mice reacted to the hybrid strain.
>"In…mice, while Omicron causes mild, non-fatal infection, the Omicron S-carrying virus inflicts severe disease with a mortality rate of 80 percent," they wrote in a research paper.
>The new strain has five times more infectious virus particles than the Omicron variant, researchers said.
As of the time of my posting this (2:29 AM CDT), this story is very recently released, only about 2 hours ago. So it is possible that this is false story or misleading information, but I got a feeling that it is not. Time will tell.
Anyway I wonder at the reasoning for attempting such "gain of function" in a clearly demonstrated highly contagious disease. At least it wasn't kept a secret, right? Or maybe it shoulda been...
You know why they allowed us to stop wearing masks in the US? Because the CDC said everybody in the US has already had it or is already vaccinated. Well, I was vaccinated with 2 damn shots and a booster and I still got it anyways in the last week of August this year. I was surprised and stunned. I totally thought I had dodged the bullet. My case was very mild with just some fever for few days and some cough and mild SOB. I was COVID positive for almost exactly 14 days. I'm age 62. Now I got my 2nd booster and I hope I'll be better off. (lol! Who am I kidding?)
Not to get too "tin-hatty" but it seems to me this would be a terrific way to clean the world up in a jiffy if the societal SHTF. And not leave everything all radioactive, if you take my meaning.
You might find this essay I wrote in 2018, interesting.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/8sa5cy/my_commentary_about_this_article_serving_the_2/
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/y6zw1j/boston_university_researchers_claim_to_have/isrzkg2/
Actually we did ban gain-of-function experiments after concerns were raised about creating “flying AIDS” BUUUUUUUT…
That was lifted in 2017…
Probably just a coincidence that the ban on gain-of-function was lifted during the Trump administration… right?
Edit: sauce https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08837-7
Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should
Mice, because they are small and don't escape easy- like "bats"
So it's official, we have learned nothing from the past few years.
You know the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting COVID, right? It’s designed to lessen the symptoms and thus the spread first and foremost. No vaccine is 100% effective, especially for something so volatile as COVID.
Ahh a fellow Chaos theorist lol
This.
Gain of function experiments did nothing to prepare us for pandemics.
All it has done is make for more dangerous accidental (and totally preventable) pandemics.
You want pandemics to stop??
STOP MAKING THE WILD ANIMALS SICK
an earthquake or other natural disaster could compromise their viral facility, which probably isnt a biolevel safety 4 level lab to begin with. making fire to make fire can get you burned.
Boston University replied to these claims. Seems like poor journalism and the media taking things out of context.
From BU’s response;
“The animal model that was used was a particular type of mouse that is highly susceptible, and 80 to 100 percent of the infected mice succumb to disease from the original strain, the so-called Washington strain,” says Corley. “Whereas Omicron causes a very mild disease in these animals.”
That 80 percent number is what the media reports latched onto, misrepresenting the study and its goals
Here’s a link to their response article.
(https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/neidl-researchers-refute-uk-article-about-covid-strain/)
Edit: Just wanted to point out it’s not an official response from BU, it’s by The Brink Staff. I’m guessing they have some involvement with the University being their article is on Bu.edu.
And we are so stupid, that this is something we do lol. And mark my words, this will be released. Don’t worry I’ll screenshot my reply for when we all die, so I can know I was right lol. (Obviously I hope not).
Oh man…
Am I the prequel to The Stand (by Stephen King)???
I doubt a contagious disease with an 80% mortality rate would spread very widely, it’s kind of counterproductive for the virus’s goal to reproduce and spread. Can’t spread if everyone is dead after all
OK sure buddy
You’re correct, becoming less lethal and more contagious is the natural evolution of viruses, but this isn’t natural, this is artificial.
Naw they meant Delta. Had Omoincron twice now and it’s much easier. Had Delta once and got lung damage and my dad died.
Omicron being less deadly seems correct based on what is presented in the article. The ancestral virus strain had 100% mortality. Ancestral virus + omicron spike protein had 80% mortality. Omicron strain had mild symptoms.
There is an extensive article in last February’s New Yorker about it. Scary stuff: it long and dense, but worth the read.
People are still reading Fox News like it's a legitimate source for science news (and pandemic news in particular). Ugh...
Great Filter…
Will we be responsible with technology or…
Oh… OH 🫣 oh no…
Sure, they created the most deadly strain of coronavirus known to man in the lab and it's not "gain of function". Whatever it is, it needs to be banned and the researchers need to be arrested and sent to prison for a VERY LONG TIME for endangering the human population.
Uhh..just because you're able to bring about the end of mankind doesn't mean you should..
Yeah the reading and logical comprehension of the results presented in the article are so bad here lol. The native strain has 100% mortality rate, so adding the omicron spike protein to the native strain actually reduced mortality.
Thank you for the link.
I was going to say the same thing. Just cuz u can doesnt mean u should. Have an upvote
Not a scientist here but why would they use a particular type of mouse that is highly susceptible to the virus?
Wooo! Science!! I can do science, me
Not a scientist either, but my guess is they wanted truly compare the viruses. Knowing the mice are susceptible it eliminates the possibility that they didn’t catch it in the experiment to see how the virus impacts the whole group for an accurate result.
“When mice were infected with just the original, ancestral virus strain, 100% of the mice died.” Yet when infected with this new strain, only 80% of them died. This strain is less deadly than the original.
You are referencing foxnews as if it has an objective representation of scientific research, especially with regards to COVID. Not to mention layman's news media do a piss-poor job summarizing research in the first place.
Why not reference the original report?
A more sensitive test instrument gives a better measure of results. The fact that these are living, emotional creatures sadly doesn’t factor.
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The spike protein if I’m remembering right is what decides how infectious a Covid strain is. If they wanted to make a truly fucked strain they would of combined the infectious ability of Omicron, which is not the more deadly strain as it attacks the upper respiratory system predominantly, and combined that with Delta. Delta was murdering people. It went for the lower respiratory destroying lungs.
Delta also had an extremely fast and high viral load that would build up in people in just a few days. Likely that is what prevented it from being worse spread and becoming the dominating strain which would of killed a much larger amount of people.
Bold strategy using Fox "News" as a source...
Also since this sub has a dumbass rule about comment length, and the original was too short, here's a copypasta to fill this bullshit requirement.
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?
I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying. The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic, he could save others from death, but not himself.
Apart from the fact that the article itself says that it has a lower mortality rate than the original one and that those data refer to mices (which makes all the possible difference), as it's obviously not possible nor sensi Al to experiment on humans. Bio and pharm fields require experiments like this one all the time, which can be counterintuitive for people from outside. I'm not really following this exact case, as I don't have time to properly read the paper, but it's likely been done because this will help knowing better some cellular mechanisms, or could be used to develop better vaccines / antivirals... You can be safe knowing that it's a common practice and people who work on that knows how to handle samples. The founds are low enough to not waste them on something unless it's undeniably useful
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So the susceptibility to the modified virus can be measured more easily and probably more accurately too.
Hmmm similar to how the first Covid strain was created in a lab
No, no they did not “objectively [create] the most contagious and deadly strain of COVID ….” The strain they created had an 80% kill rate in mice while the original had a 100%. This was done in a level 3 lab, has already been done in other labs, and was performed to help determine why Omicron is evading vaccines. Adding the original spike back in proved that the change in the spike protein is not what is making Omicron and it’s variants more effective at evading immune response among the vaccinated (as was originally posited). This experiment allows vaccine developers to reformulate their bivalent vaccine in a way that is more effective at protecting against the Omicron variants. Your fearmongering and hyperbole do not help with anything.
Thank you for legitimate sources
If I've learned anything from Plague Inc its that making a disease more deadly can hurt your chances of wiping out the world. If people are dying before they can transmit it to others then it burns out before it can go full worldwide threat level.
Researcher drops petri dish.
(Curb Your Enthusiasm theme begins playing in background.)
Why use research money to make a WORSE strain of Covid ffs???
The original Covid strain killed 100% of these mice. It’s less deadly than Covid classic.
Why are fucking psychos allowed to do this research?
Gain of function is not limited to lethality. It could have killed 20% fewer mice but spread 300% more efficiently, as omicron did.The article doesn't mention if they gaged the spread.
If you feel bad there were not mandated vaccinations well I have good news for you...
Hey guys! I taught this Grizzly Bear how to use a machine gun!
Why?
For science!
Ohhhhh.
Thank you for this. I got a little worried when Fox News was being used as the source.
Its amazing all the virologists that visit this reddit thread.
funded by our tax dollars..
Why on earth are people so sick to make a global desease more toxic?????
The potential of this reaserch is: populations that yet didn't have it are immune naiv to COVID, this that ready had it potentially are mild Ill.
Now look globally who has zero COVID strategy and release the virus...
Fucking shit that was potentially one of the reasons for this reaserch..
Misunderstanding of the science. The ancestral variant they combined the virus with has a 100% kill rate on rats, they managed to reduce it to 80% with the Omicron Variant.
Flying aids classic.
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)
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.
Interesting. Thanks for explaining. Still seems to fall way short of creating “the most contagious and deadly strain of covid” as suggested above, but I do appreciate that explanation.
Ah, and the spike protein is what causes the increase in contagiousness. Gotcha. Thank you.
I'm almost positive that lesson was the only angle the developers had when releasing Plague Inc. 😎
[deleted] t1_isrytbl wrote
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