NIH complied with Chinese request to delete crucial COVID-19 gene sequencing data

The move raises suspicions surrounding the politicized nature of the investigation into COVID’s origins.

ADVERTISEMENT
Image
Nick Monroe Cleveland Ohio
ADVERTISEMENT

Chinese researchers reportedly directed the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to remove key gene sequences of early COVID pandemic cases from their database.

The discovery comes from a new paper by virologist Prof. Jesse Bloom at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Prof. Bloom says that these COVID virus samples came from ground zero in Wuhan back in January and February 2020.

The NIH specifies that the deletion request was made in June 2020 because "they had been updated and were to be posted to another, unspecified database. The investigator said they wanted the older version to be removed to avoid confusion.”

While some of this information was preserved in a published scientific journal elsewhere, the move raises suspicions surrounding the politicized nature of the investigation into COVID’s origins.

“It makes us wonder if there are other sequences like these that have been purged,” evolutionary biologist Vaughn S. Cooper told the Wall Street Journal.  

The findings by Dr. Bloom has reignited interest for scientists when it comes to looking at the earliest COVID infections recorded at the pandemic’s onset.

Another biology professor the outlet interviewed was optimistic that if “more sequences came to light” from the first days of COVID’s spread, it’d be a game-changer. However others argued that full genome sequences and not “fragments” would be “most informative.”

In related news on the subject, the Biden administration has given the lab leak theory a second look after it was abandoned during former President Trump’s tenure. Figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Peter Daszak at the front and center of scrutiny.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Join and support independent free thinkers!

We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.

Support The Post Millennial

Remind me next month

To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 The Post Millennial, Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Personal Information