Serial passage of SARS-CoV-2 in transgenic mice expressing the human ACE2 receptor leads to increased virulence and immune evasion.
On one hand, there is so much SARS-CoV-2 passaging through humans right now that this is a tiny drop in a tiny bucket against an ocean of SARS-CoV-2 evolution.
On the other, it's undeniably gain-of-function research on a pathogen of pandemic potential and it's not at all obvious that it confers any exceptional benefit. I don't like it.
@ct_bergstrom Good thing that SARS-CoV-2 isn't being serially passaged in humans expressing the human ACE2 receptor
/s
@merz @ct_bergstrom I don't understand the concern - virus passaged in 4 mice with no experimental selective pressure vs virus passaged in 8 billion human beings.
@merz @twitskeptic @ct_bergstrom
Easier to point out a small problem on somebody else's watch than acknowledge the gigantic problem we're all responsible for.
@merz @twitskeptic well, that was my second sentence. That said, what bothered me was that I didn’t see any acknowledgment or discussion of review/oversight of GOF safety, nor of cost-benefit analysis. I suspect the authors could make the case in their favor but I want to see it.
@ct_bergstrom @twitskeptic The rationale for doing the research is laid out fairly clearly in the manuscript. Possibly there should be a clearer statement of why this work does not pose major risks, and given the current frothiness of public discussion, I might expect such an addition to appear once it's through peer review.
@twitskeptic @ct_bergstrom Exactly.