Updates to "Mouse Party"
Moving beyond "MA"...
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.
Kids! Be the first on your block to do GoF experiments just like the professionals! On sale for $2299.99 until Christmas!
I texted a friend this article yesterday mentioning the bypass of Ace2. Isn't there also a reference to using a different backbone? Thats the one that worries me . . . conjures the memory of Bill Gates' beaming smile while saying "Wait until you see Pandemic #2".