The vintage image of laundering for the featured image today is courtesy of Google Images.
Health Friday is a series devoted to Big Pharma, vaccines, general health, and associated topics. As today’s offering (as are all the posts of The Baric Files) is related to the lab-creation of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus, Yours Truly dedicates it all persons, of whatever age or location, who have suffered an infection of this virus and recovered (with or without post-infection-induced complications); or, who have died from complications resulting from, or associated with, a COVID-19 virus infection.
There are Important Notifications from our host, Wolf Moon; the Rules of our late, good Wheatie; and, certain caveats from Yours Truly, of which readers should be aware. They are linked here. Note: Yours Truly has checked today’s offering for AI-generated content. To the best of her knowledge and belief, there is none, except perhaps for AI-generated images and/or text within linked URLs.
Special Note regarding today’s offering: In no way is the following, or The Baric Files series in general in Health Friday posts, to be construed as a “character assassination”, or as an “indictment”, or as any other type of attack or smear on Ralph S. Baric, PhD, of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, or of his lab at the university. The linked scientific papers, images therefrom, and other information about Dr. Baric (such as his Curriculum Vitae [1]) are all available on the internet. The ideas and conclusions of today’s offering are by Yours Truly. There is a plethora of items related to Dr. Baric; Yours Truly will focus on some of them in each part of The Baric Files.
Special Note regarding Part Four through Part Six of The Baric Files: Starting with Part Four, the research journey of Dr. Ralph Baric, PhD, becomes more complex. What began in Part One with research into the Sindbis virus becomes more like an “octopus with many tentacles” by Part Four. Yours Truly will present some of the more important aspects of the now-augmented research journey of Dr. Baric. Please bear with me. Thank you.
Today’s offering is Part Four of six.
The Baric Files, Part Four: EcoHealth Alliance; Wuhan Institute of Virology; Dr. Zheng-li Shi; the “Template Patent”
To “lay the groundwork” for The Baric Files, Part Four, it is necessary to first make a slight “detour” regarding two things: the ACE2 receptor cells of the human body; and, the increasing focus of Dr. Baric’s experiments with SARS-CoV coronaviruses after the year 2002. Both are important components in his research journey.
The ACE2 receptor cells of the human body: The following article by Sriram, et al., from May 2020 discusses these cells [2]. Please see the screenshots from this article, below:
In his research journey, Dr. Baric performed experiments with ACE2 cells, and also produced review / analysis papers regarding ACE2 cells. One example is a 2009 paper by Baric and Graham [3] which discusses recombination experiments (which may be otherwise known as Gain-of-Function experiments) of the spike protein of coronaviruses and “cross-species transmission.” Please see the screenshots from this paper, below:
An example of the increasing work with SARS-CoV viruses: In his research journey, Dr. Baric also performed Gain-of-Function experiments with lung cells (which also included mention of shedding of the SARS-CoV virus via infected lung ciliated cells). An example of this work is a 2004 paper from Baric, et al. [4]. This paper was funded by the NIH. Please see the screenshots from this paper, below:
Ciliated cells in the lungs are cells that have tiny “hair-like” protrusions (cilia) that, among other functions, help to remove mucus.
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Now, on to EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology:
These entities were funded, in part, by NIH / NIAID: either, to disperse funds to other research entities (via EcoHealth Alliance); or, direct funding to other research entities for Gain-of-Function work (Wuhan Institute of Virology; the Baric lab at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.) These funds were to be used for performing Gain-of-Function experiments on coronaviruses. In 2018, the DEFUSE proposal by EcoHealth Alliance, which was presented to the United States Defense Department, specifically mentions the roles that Dr. Ralph Baric (at UNC) and that Dr. Zheng-li Shi (of the Wuhan Institute of Virology) would play [5]. Please see the screenshots below from the proposal; first, the Title page:
From Page one:
From Page two:
From Page four:
From Pages five and six:
One more item needs to be mentioned: SHC014. This “SARS-like coronavirus” infects horseshoe bats. It was discovered in Yunnan Province in Communist China. Please keep WIV1 and SHC014 in mind while reading on.
In Yours Truly’s opinion, the DEFUSE proposal reads like a “blueprint” for a kind of elaborate “grant funds-laundering plus experiment-laundering” scheme under the aegis of EcoHealth Alliance. The Defense Department did not pursue the proposal. Instead, it appears that NIH / NIAID stepped in and provided funding for both Dr. Baric and for Dr. Shi via EcoHealth Alliance. For example, the NIAID issued a statement in October 2021 regarding that agency’s awarding grant R01AI110964 for experiments leading to the lab-creation of SARS-CoV-2 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology [6]. Please see the screenshot from this statement, below:
Both the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) and USA Spending have documented the R01AI110964 award grant by NIAID to EcoHealth Alliance to be dispersed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology {7}, [8]. Notwithstanding the NIAID statement above, the agency used taxpayer money to help fund the lab-creation of SARS-CoV-2 via experiments performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — and used what appears to be a “grant funding-laundering” scheme to do this. Please see the screenshots below; the first, from the GAO report; the second, from the USA Spending report:
After the NIH / NIAID was caught funding Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the NIH grant R01AI110964 was terminated in 2022, with NIH citing “non-compliance” by the WIV in certain reporting areas [9].
However, it appears that Dr. Ralph Baric was one of the United States-based persons also using funds from R01AI110964. He, along with his co-authors (United States-based and overseas-based) collaborated on a paper, published on 3 September 2020, regarding the potential for SARS-CoV-2 “spillover” to wildlife [10].
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Dr. Zheng-li Shi
It appears that Dr. Ralph Baric had an exchange with Dr. Zheng-li Shi in 2013 at a conference [11]. It may be assumed that he had already known about her experiments with the SHC014 bat coronavirus. He asked her to send him some samples of this virus, which she did. Please the screenshots below from the above article:
It was after the 2013 exchange between Dr. Baric and Dr. Shi that the R01AI110964 grant was authorized in 2014 for SARS-CoV research at multiple facilities, including the Baric lab at UNC and at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (see above in today’s offering.)
It is interesting to note that EcoHealth Alliance (with, it appears, the consent and/or knowledge of Dr. Baric) was misleading the United States Defense Department regarding the DEFUSE Proposal that EcoHealth Alliance presented in 2018 [12]. It appears that EcoHealth was going to “emphasize” the United States portion of the SARS-CoV research that DEFUSE would fund, and “minimize” the involvement of Dr. Shi and the Wuhan institute of Virology. Please see the screenshots below from this article:
Dr. Zheng-li Shi denies ever actually working with Dr. Baric at his lab at UNC; instead, she sent the SHC014 samples and collaborated with Dr. Baric via other means (possibly, emails; written documents; and so on.) However, since Dr. Shi works at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (which itself is under the aegis of the Communist Chinese Peoples Liberation Army), it can perhaps be mentioned that “the truth is up for grabs” in this situation. These questions also arise: Were the students or others working at Dr. Baric’s lab who were from Communist China? If there were, is it possible that they were “information conduits” to persons working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology? Please see the screenshot from the True Story Award article by Jane Qiu [13] in February 2022, below:
Nonetheless, Dr. Shi and Dr. Baric were co-authors of the 2015 paper [14] which describes a “SARS-like cluster” of bat coronaviruses that could infect humans through zoonotic “leap “. This paper is sometimes cited as the “start of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.” Please see the screenshots from this paper, below; first, the Abstract; followed by two portions of the Main section; and, ending with the Acknowledgements:
The above 2015 Baric, Shi, et al., paper is Gain-of-Function on the SHC014 CoV bat coronavirus in order to render this virus possible to infect humans.
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The “Template Patent”
The 2015 Baric, Shi, et al., paper above was published on 9 November 2015. This would assume at least six months of work, data collection and analysis, writing the paper and submitting it for peer-review, and so on, prior to publication. The paper was submitted on 12 June 2015 and accepted on 8 October 2015.
However, Dr. Baric was also working on something else before the November 2015 paper: what appears to be the “Template Patent” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The following are screenshots from US Patent 9884895B2 granted to Ralph Baric, et al., via the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on 18 October 2016. This Patent was applied for by Dr. Baric, et al., on 20 March 2015.[15] Please see the screenshots from the Patent document, below: first, the Patent Title and US Patent Number listing; second, the Invention and timeline section; third, the general Description; fourth, from the Detailed Description of the Invention (examples: the continuous mention of the use of the 2b subdivision of SARS-CoV viruses in the lab-creation (chimeric creation) of the possible SARS-CoV-2 virus “template”, including SHC014 and WIV1; the use of the Venezuela Equine Encephalitis virus in the lab-creation of the possible SARS-CoV-2 virus “template”; the use of Virus-like Particles in the lab-creation of the possible SARS-CoV-2 virus “template”; fifth, descriptions of methods to treat, prevent, and/or protect against an infection by this lab-created chimeric virus; sixth, from the Examples section regarding the development of a “vaccine” against an infection of such a virus; and, several figures from the Patent document.
It is interesting to note in the above screenshot the language regarding the lab-creation of a potentially lethal virus under BSL2 laboratory conditions.
Fig. 2 from the Patent: the S1/S2 site:
Fig. 6 from the Patent: graphic of the chimeric spike:
Fig. 10 from the Patent: the chimeric spike with the Venezuela Equine Encephalitis added:
Yours Truly: the above last screenshot regarding “methods” for treatment / prevention / protection against, an infection by this possible SARS-CoV-2 “template virus”, reads like a possible “list of basic ingredients” for products such as the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” [by Pfizer-BioNTech and by Moderna]; and also the “inactivated protein subunit” COVID-19 “vaccine” [by Novavax].
Several questions arise: First, did Dr. Ralph Baric share with Dr. Zheng-li Shi any of the work involved leading up to the application for US Patent 9884895B2? Second, did NIH share any information from US Patent 9884895B2 with Pfizer-BioNTech, or Moderna, or the United States Defense Department, or all of these, after the Patent was assigned to NIH in May 2017? Third, exactly to whom at NIH was the Patent assigned in May 2017? Fourth, exactly who at NIH holds the Patent assignment currently,especially since the Patent is in force until the year 2035? Fifth, was any information that Dr. Baric may have shared with Dr. Shi involved in the “lab leak”/ intentional release, of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab in late 2019?
Thus far, it appears that the research journey of Dr. Ralph Baric, PhD, has progressed from the study of a mosquito-borne virus, to experiments with swine coronaviruses, to experiments with SARS-coronaviruses of various types, to the lab-creation of the “template virus” for SARS-CoV-2, to the Patent for the “Template Virus” for SARS-CoV-2; a Patent which also describes “methods” to treat, prevent, or to protect against infection, of such virus. It is Yours Truly’s opinion that, while the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was released into the world in late 2019 emanated from the lab of Dr. Zheng-li Shi at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the “template” for this virus was very likely constructed in the lab of Dr. Ralph Baric, PhD, at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and a United States Patent for this “template virus” was issued to Dr. Baric in 2016..
To be continued in Part Five.
THE COVID-19 “VACCINES” — ALL OF THEM — MUST BE REMOVED FROM THE MARKET AND FROM USE IN THE UNITED STATES. NOW.
THERE. MUST. BE. ACCOUNTABILITY.
THERE. MUST. BE. JUSTICE.
THERE. MUST. BE. TRUTH.
Peace, Good Energy, Respect: PAVACA
(Intellectual Property Notice and Disclaimer: With the exception of items above in today’s offering that are available online, the ideas and conclusions of today’s offering are by PAVACA. Proper credit must be given to PAVACA if ideas and conclusions of today’s offering are used by other blog writers, by podcasters, on social media, or in print media.)
References:
[1]: “Curriculum Vitae Ralph Baric.” https://sph.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/112/2016/09/CV_Ralph_Baric.pdf. September 2016.
[2]: “What is the ACE2 receptor?” Krishna Sriram, Paul Insel, Rohit Loomba. https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/science/051620/what-is-the-ace-2-receptor. 16 May 2020.
[3]: “Recombination, Reservoirs, and the Modular Spike: Mechanisms of Coronavirus Cross-Species Transmission.” Rachel L Graham, Ralph S Baric. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2838128/. 11 November 2009.
[4]: “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection of Human Ciliated Airway Epithelia: Role of Ciliated Cells in Viral Spread in the Conducting Airways of the Lungs.” Amy C. Sims, Ralph S. Baric, Boyd Yount, Susan E. Burkett, Peter L. Collins, Raymond J. Pickles. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1316022/. December 2005.
[5]: “Project DEFUSE: Defusing the Thread of Bat-borne Coronaviruses.” Peter Daszak, Ralph Baric, et al. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21066966-defuse-proposal/. 2018.
[6]: SARS-CoV-2 and NIAID-supported Bat Coronavirus Research.” https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/coronavirus-bat-research. “Content last reviewed on October 20, 2021.” “EXP. DATE: 07/31/2028.”
[7]: “FEDERAL RESEARCH: NIH Could Take Additional Actions to Manage Risks Involving Foreign Subrecipients.” https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-106119.pdf. 14 June 2023.
[8]: “R01AI110964.” https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_R01AI110964_7529.
[9]: Letter from Department of Health and Human Services to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/NIH-EHA-Production-8.19.22.pdf. 19 August 2022.
[10]: “Possibility for reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to free-ranging wildlife: A case study of bats.” Ralph S. Baric, Peter Daszak, Lin-Fa Wang, et al. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008758. 3 September 2020.
[11]: “Inside the risky bat-virus engineering that links America to Wuhan.” Rowan Jacobsen. https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/114658/documents/HHRG-117-IF14-2022042. 29 June 2021.
[12]: “American scientists misled Pentagon on research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” Emily Kopp. https://usrtk.org/covid-19-origins/american-scientists-misled-pentagon-on-wuhan-research/. 18 December 2023.
[13]: “Meet the Scientist at the Center of the COVID Lab Leak Controversy.” https://truestoryaward.org/story/313. Jane Qiu. 9 February 2022.
[14]: “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence.” Ralph S. Baric, Zheng-li Shi, et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3985. Published 9 November 2015.
[15]: “Methods and compositions for chimeric coronavirus spike proteins.” Ralph Baric, Sudhakar Agnihothram, Boyd Yount. https://patents.google.com/patent/US9884895B2. Patent Application submitted, 3 March 2015. Patent Assigned to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 18 October 2016.