I think the reticence of the scientific community on this subject is partly responsible for this. People are afraid or unwilling to speak plainly about this absurd state of affairs.

If half the private statements I’ve seen about GISAID were made publicly, we might’ve avoided the current crisis.

No joke. The only thing more incredible than this story is that more than 2 years after it was published, nothing has changed. A con man and paranoid megalomaniac still retains absolute power over the world’s most important viral genetic database.

Social Media Rule #1: If you desire to be understood, never start a thread with a sentence like “We figured out flow matching over states that change dimension.” First, speak concretely and simply, in words the public can understand. Reserve abstract, technical aspects for later in the thread.

Excellent thread on BA.3 from @ryanhisner.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/ryan...

In case you missed it.
www.science.org/content/arti...

For more info on this ludicrous claim, see:

bsky.app/profile/theo...

Could be something that only happens in cell culture, but the fact that E:T30I is also massively convergent in BAL-sample sequences from persistent infections has to be meaningful, and I wonder if that finding might offer a clue to its significance.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

They introduced mutations that disrupted ion-channel activity, and when they cultured those viruses, compensatory E mutations arose immediately, E:T30I prominent among them. Not only did E:T30I restore ion-channel activity, it also rapidly outcompeted wild-type virus!

These mutations are entirely confined to the transmembrane region & a few sites on either side (E:5-42).

One fascinating tidbit: By far the most common of these mutations is E:T30I. This mutation also showed up in at least one study on SARS-CoV-1 E protein, which is nearly identical to SARS-2 E...

Ooh, exciting! I've been reading a lot on E lately. Given the extraordinarily high mutation rates in E in bronchoalveoloar lavage (BAL) sequences from persistent infections (often of patients who've repeatedly tested negative by NP swab), I think it plays an important role in chronic lung infection.

Oh, wow, that's awesome. I grew up listening to Gordy. One of the greatest songwriters of all time, IMO.

One of the greatest. I recently saw a car with a bumper sticker that said "Remember the Edmund Fitzgerald."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzT...

Reminds me of my favorite version of that song, featuring one of my favorite singers, Sonya Cotton.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQeq...

One of the greatest. I recently saw a car with a bumper sticker that said "Remember the Edmund Fitzgerald."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzT...

I read a book on the history of night that discussed the idea of "second sleep."
"At Days Close: Night in Times Past" by A. Roger Ekirch.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/72...

I don't know how to square the absence of rhinoviruses (RV) in early fall here with the remarkably consistent, massive surge in RV that Biofire registers precisely when the school year starts every year. It's always the biggest peak of the year for them.

Is it a strain that doesn't register in WW?

Thank you! I look forward to the final version of your paper.

I wrote the mutational analysis for a different BA.3.2 paper back in July. I hope it will be published at some point, but it's out of my control.

Very cool! Do you know if the genome itself available? I tried searching SRA for the BioProject and BioSample accessions provided, and I couldn't find anything.