05/May/20

 

Media coverage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s origins is increasingly focusing on the possibility of an accidental escape from either of two laboratories in Wuhan, China: the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Wuhan CDC) and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Both are known to have been working on the bat coronaviruses that are closely related to SARS-CoV-2. But while many media outlets are whipping up fury over the alleged culpability of China, few are mentioning an uncomfortable fact: the dangerous research that could have led to the virus escaping was largely funded by the US. Furthermore, that funding itself had its roots in major safety lapses in US labs, involving deadly infectious diseases. GMWatch

 

 

In a radio interview, virologist Dr Jonathan Latham spells out his strong concerns about the kind of research that has been going on in Wuhan, China, which involves bat coronaviruses being put into human cells and optimised to replicate. He also explains the role in this work of the New York based EcoHealth Alliance and how their serious and multiple conflicts of interest have been little explored by the media. KPFK Pacifica Radio; GMWatch comment

 

 

An excellent summary of evidence suggesting the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic may have originated in laboratory in Wuhan, China, has been published by “an anonymous group of researchers” who claim not to be “affiliated with any company, nation state, or organization”. The document focuses on evidence implicating two potential culprits: the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Both are known to have been working on bat coronaviruses that are closely related to SARS-CoV-2. Note: This report does not highlight the US involvement in the dangerous Wuhan research: see the first two items above for more information on that. GMWatch

 

 

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found that use of the pesticide dicamba can increase the risk of developing numerous cancers, including liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancers, acute and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and mantle cell lymphoma. The findings come as use of the drift-prone herbicide has skyrocketed across millions of acres throughout much of the Midwest and South in the past three years due to the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of dicamba on genetically engineered soybeans and cotton. GMWatch

 

 

The US EPA has chosen a time when Americans are worried about the COVID-19 pandemic to announce its approval of a potentially dangerous experiment with Oxitec's GM mosquitoes, with the claimed purpose of preventing mosquito-borne disease. Comment by GMWatch to Bloomberg Law article