Tyler Stepke

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@antonioregalado I don't care where they were born but "follow basic biosafety and biosecurity procedures" seems like a good message to send in general.

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@antonioregalado I'm supportive of screening arrivals from areas with dangerous outbreaks.

Getting top scientists to follow basic safety and security procedures should be a much easier process. Your dismissal of legitimate biosecurity concerns doesn't help.

[Richard H. Ebright @R_H_Ebright]

"Independent oversight must replace institutional self-policing. Every grant, every collaboration, and every pathogen enhancement experiment should be publicly disclosed."

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@antonioregalado I'm glad the tested samples were inactive but calling it a 'thought crime' downplays real security concerns. It's easy enough to fill out the forms and not lie about the contents. We should be carefully tracking all deliberately imported active + inactive dangerous pathogens.

[The Seeker @TheSeeker268]

"Virology is too important to be imperiled by nonsense and cowardice. Which is why we’ll keep hollering."

Simon Wain-Hobson is always a great read. https://t.co/YQykhg3vVK

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@Rebecca21951651 @capitolsheila Foreign nationals aren't eligible for security clearances, but are eligible for select agent access through the process below.

Foreign nationals have been a staple of US biodefense since Erich Traub and Kurt Blome.

https://t.co/6KxCShKPM1

[Richard H. Ebright @R_H_Ebright]

Arrested virologist Munster also was involved in the reckless research on SARS coronaviruses that caused COVID. (He was a partner in the 2018 DARPA DEFUSE proposal, the apparent blueprint for constructing SARS-CoV-2.)

He shares culpability for killing 20 million.

[Gary Ruskin @garyruskin]

Rocky Mountain Labs virologist Vincent Munster was "charged today in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States and giving false statements to federal law enforcement"
“These NIH experts apparently broke our laws by smuggling viral pathogens on a packed commercial airplane from an outbreak in the Republic of Congo. Let that sink in,” United States Attorney Gorgon stated.
https://t.co/venOlaZihK

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@MJnanostretch @Rebecca21951651 When exactly were we close?

The WHO mission with Daszak/Koopmans? SAGO working from a distance while riddled with dangerous COIs and biases? WHO still seems like a promising place for the mechanism long-term, but I don't think we were even close to a serious investigation.

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

I appreciate your emphasis on timely and independent inspections; I think it's a critical part of the long-term solution.

I also understand Rebecca's skepticism because we're so far from achieving it. International talks on the subject haven't even started, and there will be strong resistance to serious independent audits. We don't yet even have a capable and trustworthy group of scientists to perform such inspections.

I think we need to get there regardless of the challenges, no matter how long it takes.

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

I think the initial simple telos you dismiss is the correct one: understanding and eradicating dangerous pathogens.

I think the hubris of assuming responsibility for general human flourishing contributed to mistakes during the pandemic.

The architect builds, the farmer farms, the ID physician eradicates disease, and all try to help guard human flourishing.

Peter Daszak is an example of an ID scientist who abandoned the purpose of understanding and eradicating disease in exchange for dangerous and self-serving hubris about the greater good. He ended up contributing to millions of deaths.

[Richard H. Ebright @R_H_Ebright]

"In The Code as Witness,...Steven Quay shows how the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 points directly to human engineering. He warns that irresponsible and unregulated gain-of-function research is accelerating, and that future pandemics may be far deadlier than COVID-19."

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

I support restoring funds for emerging infectious disease research, as long as there are serious new regulations to avoid repeating grave mistakes like funding unsafe and unproductive gain-of-function on pandemic pathogens in reckless lab conditions. Unfortunately, the Trump admin is over 6 months late on delivering the gain-of-function policy promised via executive order.

I also support new funding opportunities for research to improve lab safety and engineering.

A small group abused previous emerging disease funding to perform reckless research and contributed to the lab leak of COVID and millions of deaths. An overlapping group used these funds as part of a campaign of scientific fraud to cover up the mistakes. These acts are uniquely dangerous, and holding these individuals accountable is critical for ensuring a healthy future for both infectious disease research and the public.

Virology and infectious disease research are worth defending. I think the way forward involves careful regulation, accountability for dangerous misconduct, and a new perspective on biosafety as a rigorous science and engineering discipline.

[WIRED @WIRED]

The Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases were launched during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group lost its funding under Trump in part due to conspiracy theories. https://t.co/9UM7p6gSiC

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@MarionKoopmans If we add up all the expertise from your publications and subtract points for your uniquely dangerous role in covering up the origin of COVID, you come out as a discredited failed scientist who is actively harming WHO and efforts to rebuild trust in critical health institutions.

[Stan van Pelt @stanvanpelt]

@MarionKoopmans Als het om de herkomstdiscussie gaat, zijn virologen experts in zoönose. Maar voor onderzoeken en herkennen van labongelukken zijn anderen deskundiger, dunkt mij: biosafety en forensisch deskundigen. Toch zaten die naar mijn weten niet in de WHO- en SAGE-teams mbt herkomst SARS2?

[MJ Allen @MJnanostretch]

Peter "Conspiracy theory, Pure Baloney, COI committer, DEFUSE hider, WIV freezer feigner, Extremely unlikely, HHS debarred" Daszak requesting Lableakers "correct the record &apologize to the people" has to be near the highest height of projection, self-delusion, hypocrisy &irony!

[Michael Lin, MD PhD 🧬 @michaelzlin]

What DEFUSE additionally proves is that some of those most vehemently denying the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 originating from a lab leak are among the most aware of its plausibility. Ironically they are in the US, where public opinion has to be shaped and can't simply be dictated.

[Raina MacIntyre @Globalbiosec]

Century-long analysis of #biosafety incidents identifies strongest predictors of outbreaks, deaths for #lableaks and lab accidents. PhD work of Sandhya Dhawan - one of the best students I have supervised. https://t.co/ScIPLE9Nw9

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@mbw61567742 Thank you, I appreciate your softer approach and regret the extent of my tone.

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

This article may be the most shameless and dangerous piece of disinformation I've read this year.

Genuinely sad to see a journalist throw away her career to boost one of the most dangerous campaigns of fraud in scientific history.

Quick fact checks:

1) The article claims EcoHealth Alliance was debarred by Trump's HHS, but it was done by Biden's HHS before Trump's inauguration.

2) The article claims that a lab origin of COVID is a conspiracy theory despite the fact that all US intel agencies, WHO, and the majority of polled virologists say it's a serious hypothesis requiring further data. FBI, CIA, DOE, and German intel all now favor lab origin. Even Andersen and Garry admit lab origin is a legitimate hypothesis when under oath (they should be brought back to Congress).

3) The article exclusively quotes scientists who were caught committing fraud on COVID origins. Andersen and Garry privately believed a lab origin was "so friggin likely" but published it was "not plausible" after meeting with the most powerful western funders of the lab. They were rewarded for this uniquely dangerous act of fraud via CREID.

4) Andersen attempted to delete early COVID seqs from a US preprint server "without leaving a trace" on behalf of Chinese researchers. Imo, this act of scientific sabotage elevates Andersen to the level of a serious threat to US national security and biosecurity. Between this action and the confirmed ghostwriting fraud, he should be permanently debarred from US taxpayer funds.

It's embarrassing that this was published in 2026. Disinformation to bolster threats to US national security and biosecurity is a serious matter @emilylmullin.

[WIRED @WIRED]

The Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases were launched during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group lost its funding under Trump in part due to conspiracy theories. https://t.co/9UM7p6gSiC

[Tyler Stepke @TylerAStepke]

@ykramerezha I need to update my bio! I finished the MS in applied physics and am now pursuing an MS in chemical and biomolecular engineering at JHU. Yes there's a lot I still need to learn, but I'm right on this one unfortunately.