I have begun compiling links and details for the other mouse-optimized SARS-CoV-2 experiments in “Footnote 19” of yesterday’s post. This includes a new study posted online only yesterday, which disturbingly resulted in a mouse-optimized virus that seemingly does not require ACE2 for cellular entry.1 Hat tip to Markael Luterra for discovering that pleasant nightmare.
I have first added design details to the two experiments that took place this year in BioSafety Level 3 conditions in Iowa and France, as both are of particular interest for using samples of SARS-CoV-2 from early 2020. Apparently, you can just order the stuff online.
Pass it through a few dozen sacrificial mice, and there’s your Mouse Variant. The Paris study, in particular, seems like a potential explanation for Omicron’s emergence. It seems odd that the “grand mystery” of Omicron’s vintage genetic background would have such a mundane and easy-to-discover solution, but what are you gonna do.
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Hilariously cooked up in Australia, which was still aiming to achieve a Zero Covid Utopia last time I checked the discourse over that ways.
Maybe the following is of some interest to you:
https://harvard2thebighouse.substack.com/p/the-last-interview-the-sirotkins
You know what's really funny? There are still people contending that, "This virus has never been isolated!" (Many of them claiming it doesn't exist at all). Yet here you can order a vial of it. Sheesh!