A study that seemed to have created a Frankenstein COVID19 virus—a version of SARSCoV2 that combines Omicron and a deadlier strain from early in the pandemic—is causing controversy.
But several virologists argued on Twitter that the study is not as alarming as it first appears. For one thing, the hybrid virus was less lethal than the early variant modified in the study. They also noted that other researchers have published the results of similar experiments that did not draw similar concerns. And it’s not clear the study is very different from other chimeric virus studies that NIAID has exempted from review.
Under current U.S. government policy, any proposal to conduct a federally funded experiment that is “reasonably anticipated” to make an already highly virulent and transmissible virus more dangerous is supposed to get a special review. BU has said the experiment didn’t meet that criterion . Some researchers, however, believe it does.
Also reassuring, Neil noted, is that the experiments were conducted in a biosafety level-3 lab, which has a series of sealed doors, negative air pressure cabinets, and workers in protective suits. That is just short of the safety precautions seen in the most secure BSL-4 laboratories, which are reserved for extremely deadly pathogens such as Ebolavirus.
Emily Erbelding, director of the NIAID division that helped fund the work, said the hybrid virus experiments weren’t described in BU’s grant proposal or progress reports. But she said if BU had informed NIAID about its plans, the institute probably would have referred it for review.
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