For Baric, the study began in the late 1990’s. Coronaviruses at the time were considered low-risk, but Baric’s study of the germs that allow viruses to enter human cells confirmed that some could change slightly to avoid jumping. the obstacle.
The search was confirmed in 2002 – ’03, when SARS launched in southern China, infecting 8,000 people. As bad as it was, Baric says, we avoided bullying by SARS. The disease did not spread from person to person until at least one day when dangerous symptoms began to appear, making it easier to get through the respiratory tract. Only 774 people died in the blast, but it could have been as contagious as SARS-CoV-2, “we would have had a 10% death toll,” Baric said. This is how the people became very close. ”
When it was attempted to register SARS as a single event, in 2012 MERS came out and started transmitting people in the Middle East. “For me personally, this was a time of surprise for the zoo to have so many species, so many that are preparing for the movement of species,” says Baric.
By that time, examples of such dangers were already available from the Shi group, which for years had been testing bats in southern China to determine the origin of SARS. The project was part of a global anti-virus campaign led by a nonprofit organization in the United States EcoHealth Alliance. The nonprofit organization – which earns more than $ 16 million a year, more than 90% of government grants – has its headquarters in New York but collaborates with international research teams to work on the project. WIV was a gem, and Peter Daszak, President of the EcoHealth Alliance, has been associated with Shi in many of his papers.
Taking thousands of samples from guano, fecal swabs, and bat genes, and searching for the species to match SARS, the Shi group began to find many similar viruses. In a cave in Yunnan province in 2011 or 2012, they found two very close ones, which they named WIV1 and SHC014.
Shi was able to perform WIV1 tests in his lab from a sterile model and demonstrated its ability to directly transmit human cells, proving that viruses like SARS are ready to jump from bats to human beings already hiding in the environment. This showed, Daszak and Shi also said, that bat coronaviruses “were a major threat to the world.” Scientists said, they need to find them, and study them, before they can find us.
Many other viruses could not grow, but Baric’s system provided a way to test their spikes by creating the same viruses. The plant used SHC014 proved to be able to infect human cells in a bowl, Daszak told reporters that these revelations “should move the virus from a person who is emerging as a viral virus to a viable risk.”
For others, it was a fine example of the unnecessary dangers of practical science. “The only thing in this job is to make, in the lab, a new, non-natural hazard,” Rutgers medical expert Richard Ebright, who has been critical of the study for a long time, told Nature.
For Baric, the situation was extremely difficult. While its environment may be more dangerous than the mice that used it as a backbone, it was still wimpy compared to SARS – which is not what Senator Paul said later.
In the end, the destruction of the NIH was toothless. It also included a decentralization unless “if the chief financial officer thinks that research is urgently needed to protect public health or national security.” Not only were Baric’s courses allowed to go further, but all the courses he requested were not offered. Financial restrictions were lifted in 2017 and amended by a more lenient approach.
Tyvek suits and breathing machines
If the NIH is looking for a scientist to make it possible for them to be comfortable with job search research, Baric is the obvious choice. Over the years he has pushed for more security measures, and he has struggled to recognize this in his 2015 paper, as if he were pointing the way forward.
The program of The CDC recognizes four levels of environmental care and recommend which viruses should be studied. The level of biosafety 1 is safe and you do not need any protective equipment: wear lab coats and gloves if necessary. BSL-2 is a viral pathogen that already exists in the area, and a slight intrusion is indicated: close the door, wear eye protection, dispose of waste in an autoclave. BSL-3 is where things get worse. It is about viruses that can cause serious infections through the spread of respiratory infections, such as influenza and SARS, and the systems involved include a number of barriers to escape. Labs are protected by only two closed sets, closed doors; air filters; the staff uses both PPE and N95 masks and is under medical supervision. BSL-4 is the worst of the baddies, such as Ebola and Marburg: full moon suits and space systems are supported in the barn.
“There are no set limits on what you can and cannot do. It contains countries, organizations, and scientists. ”
Filippa Lentzos, King’s College London
In the Baric lab, maltes were trained in BSL-3, and supplemented with other techniques such as Tyvek suits, two gloves, and a respirator for all staff. Initial response groups participated in regular exercise sessions in order to better identify the lab. All staff members were screened for the disease, and local hospitals had procedures in place to help upcoming scientists. It was probably one of the best BSL-3 sites in the world. This was not enough to avoid several errors for years: some scientists have even been bitten by viruses. But no illness occurred.
New pathogens
In 2014, the NIH funded a five-year, $ 3.75 million fund from the EcoHealth Alliance to study the risk that many batt-infected coronaviruses could emerge in China, using Baric’s methods. Some of the staff should be given access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
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