"It is demonstrably more lethal than naturally-occurring Omicron."
Perhaps a pedantic question, but are you sure that Omicron occurred naturally? I seem to recall a great deal of speculation that it escaped from a lab as well.
"It is demonstrably more lethal than naturally-occurring Omicron."
Perhaps a pedantic question, but are you sure that Omicron occurred naturally? I seem to recall a great deal of speculation that it escaped from a lab as well.
While there has been considerable speculation, the evidence supporting a lab origin for Omicron is thin at best. It is not anywhere near the amount of evidence for a lab origin that we have for the original Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2.
Of course, there is no firm evidence that Omicron is categorically NOT laboratory-created--hence the speculation.
For the purposes of assessing the BU Gain-Of-Function research, I am presuming that Omicron is naturally occurring. It keeps the discussion simple and focused.
"It is demonstrably more lethal than naturally-occurring Omicron."
Perhaps a pedantic question, but are you sure that Omicron occurred naturally? I seem to recall a great deal of speculation that it escaped from a lab as well.
While there has been considerable speculation, the evidence supporting a lab origin for Omicron is thin at best. It is not anywhere near the amount of evidence for a lab origin that we have for the original Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2.
Of course, there is no firm evidence that Omicron is categorically NOT laboratory-created--hence the speculation.
For the purposes of assessing the BU Gain-Of-Function research, I am presuming that Omicron is naturally occurring. It keeps the discussion simple and focused.