Virus that caused covid-19 pandemic was created in lab, says new research

News Network
October 24, 2022

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The virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic was most likely created in a laboratory, a study by German and American scientists has claimed.

A team of three researchers concluded that Sars-CoV-2 was a genetically modified virus, after comparing its structure to that of “wild” and laboratory-borne equivalents.

Sars-CoV-2 literally has “fingerprints” of genetic manipulations, according to a preprint released by Valentin Bruttel of Germany’s Wuerzburg University, Alex Washburne of the US-based Selva Analytics research center and Antonius VanDongen of Duke University, also in the US. The paper published this week reported that the three scientists had found a recurring genetic structure element called a restriction site, which they describe as a sign of the virus’ genome having been “stitched” together.

“To make a virus in the lab, researchers usually engineer the viral genome to add and remove stitching sites, called restriction sites. The ways researchers modify these sites can serve as fingerprints of in vitro genome assembly,” the paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, claims.

The structure of Sars-CoV-2 is “anomalous in wild coronaviruses” but “common in lab-assembled viruses,” it adds, pointing to the certain “synonymous or silent mutations” that differentiate the restriction sites. The concentration of such mutations “is extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution,” the preprint says.

The study results show that “this virus is 99.9 percent an artificial, probably manipulated, copy of a natural virus,” Bruttel told Germany’s ntv news media outlet. The researcher said that, during his study, he found the signs of similar manipulations he carries out daily to create protein-based drugs for autoimmune diseases.

Bruttel, who holds a doctoral degree in the field of immunology and was awarded this year’s Innovation Prize at German Biotechnology Days – the national forum of the biotech industry – told ntv he had been working on the study since summer 2021, when he first noticed abnormalities in the virus genome.

The study, however, has been promptly lambasted by other immunologists, including Kristian Andersen of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Andersen branded the paper “nonsense” that was “so deeply flawed that it wouldn’t pass kindergarten molecular biology.” He also presented his own version of Sars-CoV-2 genome analysis in a series of tweets.

German virologist Friedemann Weber, who leads the Institute for Virology at the University of Giessen, said that the “fingerprints” found by Bruttel and his colleagues do not necessarily point to the artificial origin of the virus, since genetic manipulations with it are possible even without the techniques the study was pointing to. At the same time, he admitted that one “can actually do it like” the study suggests it was done but called such a method “not necessary and actually more complicated.”

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News Network
March 18,2023

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Udupi, Mar 18: A ghastly road mishap involving a truck and a car claimed the life of a lecturer of a private engineering college at Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district.  

The deceased is identified as Anantesha Rao (45). He is survived by wife Sripriya Anantesh, principal of a private college in Mangaluru and a son.

It is learnt that Rao’s car collided with a container truck at Honnavar when he was travelling to Sode Moola Mutt from Udupi. Rao died on the spot due to excessive bleeding. 

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News Network
March 21,2023

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Yoga guru Swami Ramdev once again targeted the allopathic system of medicine, saying that there is no cure for diseases like cancer, hypertension and diabetes in allopathy, whereas through Ayurveda they can be eradicated from the root.

Ramdev made the remark while addressing the closing session of the International Ayurveda Conclave-2023 organised under the joint aegis of Uttarakhand Ayurved University and Deendayal Kamdhenu Gaushala Samiti on Sunday.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj, and vice chancellor of Ayurveda University Sunil Joshi also attended the programme.

Noting the importance and medical properties of cow's milk, Ramdev said it increases the body's immunity.

It “cures” many diseases naturally, he said, adding people around the world have it.

Ramdev claimed that diseases like cancer have been cured by the combination of cow urine extract and Ayurvedic medicines in his institute.

While addressing the students of Ayurveda, the Yoga guru said that there is no cure for diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer in allopaths whereas Ayurveda has remedies for all these illnesses.

The Yoga guru has been in controversy with Ramdev in the past for making such statements against allopathic medicine.

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News Network
March 16,2023

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Riyadh, Mar 16: Saudi Arabia is open to “quickly” investing in Iran following the restoration of diplomatic relations, according to the Kingdom’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan. 

Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed last Friday to reassert their diplomatic ties and will reopen their respective embassies within two months.  

Speaking at the Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh, Al-Jadaan was asked when Saudi Arabia could start making “significant” investments in Iran.

“I would say quickly,” he replied, later adding: “Our aim is to have a region that is stable, able to provide for its people, and prosper, and there is no reason for that not to happen, Iran is our neighbor and has been and will continue to be for hundreds of years.”

“There are a lot of opportunities in Iran, and we provide a lot of opportunities, as long as goodwill continues,” Al-Jadaan said. 

The finance minister added that as long as both sides “stick to agreements” around sovereignty and non-interference, there is no reason the relationship between the countries cannot see a “ normalization.”

“I don’t see any impediments,” Al-Jadaan added.

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