@johnrich Here's a long read for you, but it outlines Vanderbilt University's complicity in the gain of function research that started this whole thing.
https://t.co/ZP86l6clup
There are some big questions we need to ask Vanderbilt University. They were instrumental in this biowarfare.
With this candor, please explain briefly Vanderbilt's contribution to the gain of function research. Would that research have been clearly for GOF as they were conducting it?
Denison’s own lab focus was broader (replication mechanisms, ExoN proofreading, attenuation for vaccine candidates, and later antivirals), but the reverse-genetics pipeline and the chimeric/host-range experiments were joint.Was it clearly gain-of-function while they were doing it?
Under the functional outcome—yes: the experiments deliberately created viruses that acquired new or expanded abilities to infect human cells or cause disease in mammalian models that the starting bat viruses lacked. Baric himself referred to related chimeric constructs as “chimeric gain of function” viruses in at least one contemporaneous setting. Under the narrow 2014–2017 U.S. funding-pause definition (expected enhancement of transmissibility or virulence in a way that creates a potential pandemic pathogen beyond the parental strain), NIH reviewers often classified the specific Baric–Denison chimeras as not meeting the pause criteria and allowed them to proceed. The researchers framed the work as studying natural emergence potential rather than as an intentional effort to weaponize or maximize danger. In short: the experiments produced clear functional gains in host range and model pathogenicity; whether that met the regulatory label “gain-of-function” at the time was contested and ultimately decided in favor of continuing the research.Vanderbilt’s contribution (primarily via Mark Denison’s lab) was collaborative reverse-genetics and chimeric virus work with Ralph Baric’s UNC group.Denison and Baric co-developed and applied full-length infectious cDNA systems for coronaviruses. Key joint outputs included:The 2008 synthesis of a recombinant bat SARS-like coronavirus in which the receptor-binding domain was replaced with the human SARS-CoV version. The resulting chimera became replication-competent in cell culture (including primary human airway cells) and in mice—demonstrating a functional gain in human infectivity relative to the parental bat virus.
Shared grants and proposals that included generating mouse-adapted versions of SARS-related bat viruses (WIV1, SHC014). Internal NIH notes at the time flagged that these adaptations were likely to produce enhanced pathogenicity or transmissibility in the animal models.
@johnrich The writing on the show has already jumped the shark. It's horrible if you're wanting something a bit more cerebral than cool action sequences.
@SuwuTrail@TruthSeeker4u2 This sounds like an admission that you're just a child-supporting baby daddy. How many different women have you gotten pregnant? I bet you're paying out, or supposed to, anyway, to more than one baby momma.
@SuwuTrail@TruthSeeker4u2 Wow. That must have really struck a chord with you. Stereotypes exist for a reason. Baby mommas and baby daddies. Husbands and wives make babies that prosper. Bastards are just bastards.
And then you have that 'per capita' thing that always fucks y'all up.
The post replies to criticism of welfare dependency by noting that non-Hispanic whites form the largest single group of food subsidy users via programs like SNAP/EBT and WIC in the US.
USDA FY2023-2024 data confirms whites at roughly 35% of SNAP recipients (largest absolute share), compared to Black Americans (~26%) and Hispanics (~16%), though combined minority shares exceed whites.
Absolute numbers reflect whites' majority population status, while per capita participation rates are higher among Black and Hispanic groups due to differing poverty and eligibility patterns.
@SuwuTrail@TruthSeeker4u2 And you're still not addressing the major problem here, unfit parents. Treat the symptom and not cure the problem. The word for that is apathetic.