Lethal Infection of Human ACE2-Transgenic Mice Caused by SARS-CoV-2-1 related Pangolin Coronavirus: 2024, Lai et al

Bio Rxiv

Lethal Infection of Human ACE2-Transgenic Mice Caused by SARS-CoV-2-related Pangolin Coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR)

Lai Wei, Shuiqing Liu, Shanshan Lu, Shengdong Luo, Xiaoping An, Huahao Fan, Weiwei Chen, Erguang Li, Yigang Tong, ProfileLihua Song

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR) can cause 100% mortality in human ACE2-transgenic mice, potentially attributable to late-stage brain infection. This underscores a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans and provides a unique model for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.03.574008v1

Pre print: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.03.574008v1.full.pdf+html

 

I'm not sure what this paper is about, just posting in case it is relevant. Being quoted in darker parts of the Internet as more evidence of China bad intentions, so caution re: searches, as much nonsense is attached.

 

Not sure about intentions but playing with this stuff is about as irresponsible as you can get.

We are quite likely to have a much more serious pandemic sometime in the next ten years and it seems they are trying to hurry it up. Covid may have been fire practice.

But the cheerleaders for this game are the US, not China, which is just tagging along.

I am afraid the best scenario may be that one of these viruses gets out and turns out to be 90% lethal to humans and after as few fatalities as possible people start taking infection risk seriously. The sad thing is that that has already happened and we have forgotten.

I suppose it is faintly possible that this is a scam paper.

 

https://nypost.com/2024/01/16/news/covid-19-strain-kills-100-of-infected-mice-in-chinese-lab-study/

The experts quoted at the end of this tabloid piece are quite horrified. It appears to be a real paper and I fear we as a species haven’t learnt the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic. Far from it, we still have an unhealthy fascination with viruses. So far as I can understand, the researchers took a coronavirus found in pangolins and ran it through cell lines until it mutated and became more virulent, then knocked off a few ACE2-transgenic mice with it; the receptor that coronaviruses attach to in humans. Great…

 

Haven't looked at it but I recall a BBC radio 4 life scientific program re a researcher who had worked on virus's (including at Portland down). Basically they tweaked the (virus) structure to see what effect it had and tried to guess what other changes would do!