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Fauci FOIA email: https://archive.org/details/fauci-emails/page/n3205/mode/1up?q=Gain+of+function
About Hugh Auchincloss: https://archive.md/5CEyV
Fauci led NIAID gave over $10.5 million to Baric:
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8687583

Investigation of Covid-19 should start with the NIH-NIAID, CDC, USAID, US Dept. of Defense, FDA, and work its way outward to UNC-Chapel Hill, UC-Davis, EcoHealth Alliance, Duke U./Duke-NUS, Harvard, the Galveston Lab, etc. French involvement in the Wuhan Lab; Dr. Shi’s major professor in France; Swiss, Australian involvement, etc., should be examined. It is more logical to start the investigation in the west, rather than simply asking China.

Related: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2021/06/05/six-accidents-university-of-north-carolina-chapel-hill-researchers-had-with-lab-created-coronaviruses/

Fauci’s NIAID gave Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, over $10.5 million for research for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as the PI (Principal Investigator). https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8687583 Menachery was a post-doctoral fellow in the Baric lab. According to the Menachery et al (2015) letter-paper (apparently called Baric and Shi in the Fauci emails): “Both wild-type and chimeric viruses were derived from either SARS-CoV Urbani or the corresponding mouse-adapted (SARS-CoV MA15) infectious clone”. (Urbani is the original SARS. MA15 was created by NIAID-CDC-UNC Chapel Hill researchers ca 2007.) Menachery et al. (2015) found that “Similarly to SARS, SHC014-MA15 also required a functional ACE2 molecule for entry and could use human, civet and bat ACE2 orthologs… To test the ability of the SHC014 spike to mediate infection of the human airway”, they “examined the sensitivity of the human epithelial airway cell line Calu-3 2B4 (ref. 9) to infection and found robust SHC014-MA15 replication, comparable to that of SARS-CoV Urbani (Fig. 1c). To extend these findings, primary human airway epithelial (HAE) cultures were infected and showed robust replication of both viruses…” Boyd Yount, Jr., of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “designed the infectious clone and recovered chimeric viruses” and the “Bat Lady” from Wuhan, Zhengli Li Shi “provided the SCH014 spike sequences and plasmids” See “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence” Nat Med: 2015 Dec;21(12):1508-13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26552008/ (Available for reuse due to the pandemic.) The title given by Fauci may reflect the fact that he recently gave over $10.5 million to Ralph Baric. However, his inclusion of the Wuhan Bat Lady, Zhengli Shi in his choice of title is very interesting. SARS-CoV Urbani is the original SARS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Urbani

Boyd Yount was apparently also involved in the ca 2007 development of SARS MA15. And, so, it appears that Boyd Yount may be the behind-the-scenes Dr. Frankenstein “evil genius” creator of these new viruses, although he works in Baric’s lab. Yount is listed on the University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Public Health website as a Research Specialist in the Dept. of Epidemiology.

The mouse-adapted (SARS-CoV MA15) “ infectious clone” virus, upon which the new virus was built, was created ca 2007 by researchers from the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CDC, in conjunction with researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Fauci has been the director of the NIAID since 1983. Roberts A, Deming D, Paddock CD, Cheng A, Yount B, et al. (2007) “A mouse-adapted SARS-coronavirus causes disease and mortality in BALB/c mice”. PLoS Pathog 3(1): e5. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030005 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17222058/ (public domain document.) Notice Boyd Yount, who may be the most important in the development process, based on his role in the 2015 Menachery et al. research: Boyd L. Yount Jr., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “designed the infectious clone and recovered chimeric viruses.”

This mouse disease was created because young mice weren’t getting sick with SARS-CoV and they had trouble getting older mice. So, they made a mouse disease (SARS-CoV MA15) to make all of the mice very sick: “observations suggest that mice infected with MA15 die from an overwhelming viral infection”.

This certainly falls under the definition of “gain-of function”: “gain-of-function studies with the potential to enhance the pathogenicity or transmissibility of potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs) have raised biosafety and biosecurity concerns, including the potential dual use risks associated with the misuse of the information or products resulting from such research.”https://osp.od.nih.gov/biotechnology/gain-of-function-research/

Pages with the term “Gain of Function” from the searchable version of Fauci FOIA emails: https://archive.org/details/fauci-emails/page/n3205/mode/1up?q=Gain+of+function
* Page -3205-
The paper you sent me says the experiments were performed before the gain of function pause but have since been reviewed and approved by NIH. Not sure what that means since Emily is sure that no Coronavirus work has gone through the P3 framework. She will try to determine if we have any distant ties to this work abroad.
* 
Page -3209-
Attachments: Baric, Shi et al – Nature medicine – SARS Gain of function.pdf Here it is
* 
Page -3220-
Attachments: Baric, Shi et al – Nature medicine – SARS Gain of function.pdf Hugh:
https://archive.org/details/fauci-emails/page/n3205/mode/1up?q=Gain+of+function

Vineet D. Menachery was the lead author and a key researcher for coronavirus experiments (2012-2015), which turned a bat coronavirus into a human coronavirus, which could cause an epidemic (and pandemic). He was the lead author and researcher for what seems to be the Baric, Shi, et al. article mentioned in the FOIA Fauci emails: “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence” Nat Med: 2015 Dec;21(12):1508-13. However, there is a lengthy list of individuals who participated in the research in the US, China, and the Italian part of Switzerland (Ticino). These include Ralph Baric and Zhengli-Li Shi.

The list of authors is:
Vineet D Menachery 1, Boyd L Yount Jr 1, Kari Debbink 1,2, Sudhakar Agnihothram 3, Lisa E Gralinski 1, Jessica A Plante 1, Rachel L Graham 1, Trevor Scobey 1, Xing-Yi Ge 4, Eric F Donaldson 1, Scott H Randell 5,6, Antonio Lanzavecchia 7, Wayne A Marasco 8,9, Zhengli-Li Shi 4 & Ralph S Baric 1,2
Their institutional affiliations:
1 Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
3 National Center for Toxicological Research, Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, Arkansas USA
4 Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
5 Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
6 Cystic Fibrosis Center, Marsico Lung Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
7 Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona Institute of Microbiology, Zurich, Switzerland
8 Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts USA
9 Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts USA

They state that “Research in this manuscript was supported by grants from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease and the National Institute of Aging of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) under awards U19AI109761 (R.S.B.), U19AI107810 (R.S.B.), AI085524 (W.A.M.), F32AI102561 (V.D.M.) and K99AG049092 (V.D.M.), and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China awards 81290341 (Z.-L.S.) and 31470260 (X.-Y.G.), and by USAID-EPT-PREDICT funding from EcoHealth Alliance (Z.-L.S.). Human airway epithelial cultures were supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease of the NIH under award NIH DK065988 (S.H.R.). We also thank M.T. Ferris (Dept. of Genetics, University of North Carolina) for the reviewing of statistical approaches and C.T. Tseng (Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch) for providing Calu-3 cells.

Experiments with the full-length and chimeric SHC014 recombinant viruses were initiated and performed before the GOF research funding pause and have since been reviewed and approved for continued study by the NIH. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Notice, below, that Boyd F. Yount, Jr. “designed the infectious clone and recovered chimeric viruses” and the “Bat Lady” from Wuhan, Zhengli Li Shi “ provided the SCH014 spike sequences and plasmids”

“AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS V.D.M. designed, coordinated and performed experiments, completed analysis and wrote the manuscript. B.L.Y. designed the infectious clone and recovered chimeric viruses; S.A. completed neutralization assays; L.E.G. helped perform mouse experiments; T.S. and J.A.P. completed mouse experiments and plaque assays; X.-Y.G. performed pseudotyping experiments; K.D. generated structural figures and predictions; E.F.D. generated phylogenetic analysis; R.L.G. completed RNA analysis; S.H.R. provided primary HAE cultures; A.L. and W.A.M. provided critical monoclonal antibody reagents; and Z.-L.S. provided SHC014 spike sequences and plasmids. R.S.B. designed experiments and wrote manuscript.” (See: “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence” Nat Med: 2015 Dec;21(12):1508-13 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26552008/). (The origin of Menachery is India, the origin of this Yount may be the North Carolina Jund(t) family from the Rhineland. Baric is apparently of Croatian ancestry.) Vineet D. Menachery has continued with related research (2015 to present), as principle investigator (PI) and is now affiliated with the Galveston National Laboratory (GNL).

In this US government funded research (Menachery et al. 2015), which included US based researchers, researchers from the Wuhan lab, and a Swiss-Italian researcher, they say that they “examined the disease potential of a SARS-like virus, SHC014-CoV, which” [was] “circulating in Chinese horseshoe bat populations”. And, “Using the SARS-CoV reverse genetics system”, [they] “generated and characterized a chimeric virus expressing the spike of bat coronavirus SHC014 in a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV backbone. The results indicate that group 2b viruses encoding the SHC014 spike in a wild-type backbone can efficiently use multiple orthologs of the SARS receptor human angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2), replicate efficiently in primary human airway cells and achieve in vitro titers equivalent to epidemic strains of SARS-CoV. Additionally, in vivo experiments demonstrate replication of the chimeric virus in mouse lung with notable pathogenesis.” Furthermore, “Evaluation of available SARS-based immune-therapeutic and prophylactic modalities revealed poor efficacy; both monoclonal antibody and vaccine approaches failed to neutralize and protect from infection with CoVs using the novel spike protein. On the basis of these findings, we synthetically re-derived an infectious full-length SHC014 recombinant virus and demonstrate robust viral replication both in vitro and in vivo. Our work suggests a potential risk of SARS-CoV re-emergence from viruses currently circulating in bat populations.” “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence” Nat Med: 2015 Dec;21(12):1508-13 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26552008/

[NB: In vitro is in Petri dishes, test-tubes, etc., whereas in vivo is in living beings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro ]

“Lentivirus is a genus of retroviruses that cause chronic and deadly diseases characterized by long incubation periods, in the human and other mammalian species.[1]… Lentiviruses can become endogenous (ERV), integrating their genome into the host germline genome, so that the virus is henceforth inherited by the host’s descendants.”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentivirus Lentivirus can be used “to introduce a gene product into in vitro systems or animal models”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentivirus “Most of the lentiviral vectors presently in use are HIV-derived vectors.” https://ehs.stanford.edu/reference/lentivirus-fact-sheet

“Vero cells are a lineage of cells used in cell cultures” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vero_cell

According to the Menachery et al (2015) letter-paper (apparently called Baric and Shi in the Fauci emails): “Both wild-type and chimeric viruses were derived from either SARS-CoV Urbani or the corresponding mouse-adapted (SARS-CoV MA15) infectious clone”. See “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence” Nat Med: 2015 Dec;21(12):1508-13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26552008/ (Available for reuse due to the pandemic.)

The mouse-adapted (SARS-CoV MA15) “infectious clone” virus was created by researchers from the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health and the CDC, in conjunction with researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. They “adapted the SARS-CoV (Urbani strain) by serial passage in the respiratory tract of young BALB/c mice. Fifteen passages resulted in a virus (MA15) that is lethal for mice following intranasal inoculation… observations suggest that mice infected with MA15 die from an overwhelming viral infection… The MA15 virus has six coding mutations associated with adaptation and increased virulence; when introduced into a recombinant SARS-CoV, these mutations result in a highly virulent and lethal virus (rMA15), duplicating the phenotype of the biologically derived MA15 virus. Intranasal inoculation with MA15 reproduces many aspects of disease seen in severe human cases of SARS. The availability of the MA15 virus will enhance the use of the mouse model for SARS because infection with MA15 causes morbidity, mortality, and pulmonary pathology. This virus will be of value as a stringent challenge in evaluation of the efficacy of vaccines and antivirals .” (Roberts A, Deming D, Paddock CD, Cheng A, Yount B, et al. (2007) “ A mouse-adapted SARS-coronavirus causes disease and mortality in BALB/c mice”. PLoS Pathog 3(1): e5. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030005 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17222058/ Public domain)

“A Mouse-Adapted SARS-Coronavirus Causes Disease and Mortality in BALB/c Mice” by Anjeanette Roberts1, Damon Deming2, Christopher D. Paddock3, Aaron Cheng1, Boyd Yount4, Leatrice Vogel1, Brian D. Herman1, Tim Sheahan2, Mark Heise2,5,6, Gillian L. Genrich3, Sherif R. Zaki3, Ralph Baric2,4,5, Kanta Subbarao1*
1 Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America,
2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America,
3 Infectious Disease Pathology Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America,
4 Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America,
5 Carolina Vaccine Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America,
6 Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
Citation: Roberts A, Deming D, Paddock CD, Cheng A, Yount B, et al. (2007) “A mouse-adapted SARS-coronavirus causes disease and mortality in BALB/c mice”. PLoS Pathog 3(1): e5. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030005 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17222058/

The Bio Basic discussed in the Methods section appears to be the same as BIO BASIC Inc, registered in New York. The parent company seems to be BBI Life Sciences Corporation started by David Qisong Wang (from China, apparently of Wuhan): Ms. Jin Wang, CEO of the NY subsidiary, is his daughter. In 2010, “Sangon & Bio Basic Inc. Closes $10 Million Round of Investment by Qiming Ventures Aug 3, 2010 https://archive.md/HZu8L https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiming_Venture_Partners

Why would they obtain a research virus from this Chinese linked company, instead of from the US government’s BEI Resources? “BEI Resources was established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to provide reagents, tools and information for studying Category A, B, and C priority pathogens, emerging infectious disease agents, non-pathogenic microbes and other microbiological materials of relevance to the research community.” 

In the Methods section Menachery et al. (2015) state that: “Construction of SARS-like chimeric viruses. Both wild-type and chimeric viruses were derived from either SARS-CoV Urbani or the corresponding mouse-adapted (SARS-CoV MA15) infectious clone (ic) as previously described 27. Plasmids containing spike sequences for SHC014 were extracted by restriction digest and ligated into the E and F plasmid of the MA15 infectious clone. The clone was designed and purchased from Bio Basic as six contiguous cDNAs using published sequences flanked by unique class II restriction endonuclease sites (BglI). Thereafter, plasmids containing wild-type, chimeric SARS-CoV and SHC014-CoV genome fragments were amplified, excised, ligated and purified. In vitro transcription reactions were then preformed to synthesize full-length genomic RNA, which was transfected into Vero E6 cells as previously described2. The medium from transfected cells was harvested and served as seed stocks for subsequent experiments. Chimeric and full-length viruses were confirmed by sequence analysis before use in these studies. Synthetic construction of chimeric mutant and full-length SHC014-CoV was approved by the University of North Carolina Institutional Biosafety Committee and the Dual Use Research of Concern committee.” [Who served/serves on those committees? There appears a conflict of interest, because the University of North Carolina probably gets 40-60% of grants given to their researchers as “overhead”. Certainly they get something as overhead; fund workers and professors. Then there is the prestige factor. They should not be the approving body.]

In the Menachery et al. (2015) article they elaborate: “the failure of pseudotyped lentiviruses expressing the SHC014 spike to enter cells (Supplementary Fig. 1d), suggested that the SHC014 spike is unable to bind human ACE2. However, similar changes in related SARS-CoV strains had been reported to allow ACE2 binding 7,8, suggesting that additional functional testing was required for verification. Therefore, we synthesized the SHC014 spike in the context of the replication-competent, mouse-adapted SARS-CoV back-bone (we hereafter refer to the chimeric CoV as SHC014-MA15) to maximize the opportunity for pathogenesis and vaccine studies in mice (Supplementary Fig. 2a). Despite predictions from both structure-based modeling and pseudotyping experiments, SHC014-MA15 was viable and replicated to high titers in Vero cells (Supplementary Fig. 2b). Similarly to SARS, SHC014-MA15 also required a functional ACE2 molecule for entry and could use human, civet and bat ACE2 orthologs (Supplementary Fig. 2c,d). To test the ability of the SHC014 spike to mediate infection of the human airway, we examined the sensitivity of the human epithelial airway cell line Calu-3 2B4 (ref. 9) to infection and found robust SHC014-MA15 replication, comparable to that of SARS-CoV Urbani (Fig. 1c). To extend these findings, primary human airway epithelial (HAE) cultures were infected and showed robust replication of both viruses (Fig. 1d). Together, the data confirm the ability of viruses with the SHC014 spike to infect human airway cells and underscore the potential threat of cross-species transmission of SHC014-CoV.”

They note that their “ approach must be considered in the context of the US government–mandated pause on gain-of-function (GOF) studies 22. On the basis of previous models of emergence (Fig. 4a,b), the creation of chimeric viruses such as SHC014-MA15 was not expected to increase pathogenicity. Although SHC014-MA15 is attenuated relative to its parental mouse-adapted SARS-CoV, similar studies examining the pathogenicity of CoVs with the wild-type Urbani spike within the MA15 backbone showed no weight loss in mice and reduced viral replication 23. Thus, relative to the Urbani spike–MA15 CoV, SHC014-MA15 shows a gain in pathogenesis (Fig. 1).

On the basis of these findings, scientific review panels may deem similar studies building chimeric viruses based on circulating strains too risky to pursue, as increased pathogenicity in mammalian models cannot be excluded.

Coupled with restrictions on mouse-adapted strains and the development of monoclonal antibodies using escape mutants, research into CoV emergence and therapeutic effi-cacy may be severely limited moving forward.

Together, these data and restrictions represent a crossroads of GOF research concerns; the potential to prepare for and mitigate future outbreaks must be weighed against the risk of creating more dangerous pathogens.”
See: See “A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence” Nat Med: 2015 Dec;21(12):1508-13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26552008/ (Available for reuse due to the pandemic.)
A 2016 update to the 2015 article says: “In the version of this article initially published online, the authors omitted to acknowledge a funding source, USAID-EPT-PREDICT funding from EcoHealth Alliance, to Z.-L.S. The error has been corrected for the print, PDF and HTML versions of this article.” Z-L.S. is “Zhengli-Li Shi , Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China”. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7095988/

Notice that EPT-PREDICT was “laundering” USAID funding to Wuhan through the EcoHealth Alliance subcontractor. The head of EcoHealth Alliance is a British Ukrainian. Why wasn’t it sent directly to Zhengli Li Shi in Wuhan?
EPT-PREDICT is managed by Jonna Mazet at UC Davis:
“Emerging Pandemic Threats Program 2 PREDICT-2, Principal Investigator”
Mazet, Jonna https://archive.md/d889Q

Supplementary Info: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4797993/bin/41591_2015_BFnm3985_MOESM18_ESM.pdf

In a related research article “SARS-like WIV1-CoV poised for human emergence” by Vineet D. Menacherya, Boyd L. Yount Jr., et al., PNAS, pp. 3048–3053, March 15, 2016, vol. 113, no. 11 regarding biosafety and security and the Wuhan lab, it says: “Reported studies were initiated after the University of North Carolina Institutional Biosafety Committee approved the experimental protocol: project title: Generating infectious clones of Bat SARS-like CoVs; lab safety plan ID: 20145741; schedule G ID: 12279. These studies were initiated before the US Government Deliberative Process Research Funding Pause on Selected Gain of Function Research Involving Influenza, MERS, and SARS Viruses… Continuation of these studies has been requested and approved by the NIH”. They “thank Dr. Zhengli-Li Shi of the Wuhan Institute of Virology for access to bat CoV sequences and plasmid of WIV1-CoV spike protein.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4797993 The numbering of the lab safety ID suggests that it was approved sometime in 2014. We have been unable to find the plan online.

Letter from the Obama administration saying that gain of function research, which had already been funded, could continue. However, the administration asked for a voluntary pause. https://archive.md/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/10/17/doing-diligence-assess-risks-and-benefits-life-sciences-gain-function-research Letter dated October 21, 2014 to Ms. Sherrie Settle (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) regarding Grant #5U19AI107810-02 and saying that the pause is voluntary but that it would only be funded the rest of the budget year. So, it appears that any research that he did involving “gain of function research”, after that date, would have required another exemption. https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/documents/43088final.pdf
This is the above project number:
“Role of Uncharacterized Genes in High Pathogenic Human Coronavirus Infection Parent Project Number 5U19AI107810-02
Sub-Project ID 8683
31 May 2014-30 May 2015 https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8687584
The same project number seems to have continued through the pause, according to both Baric’s curriculum vita from UNC and this NIH site: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8687583 . Around half (40-60%) of that grant probably went to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, as “overhead”. He only lists $7.4 million, but apparently received over $10.5 million. Additional contracts are listed in the research articles (apparently other PIs and universities, however):
“U19 AI107810 (PI: Baric) 07/01/13-06/30/18 NIH/NIAID $7,346,408 Characterization of novel genes encoded by RNA and DNA viruses
Using highly pathogenic human respiratory and systemic viruses which cause acute and chronic life-threatening disease outcomes, we test the hypothesis that RNA and DNA viruses encode common and unique mechanisms to manipulate virus replication efficiency and host responses to determine severe disease outcomes.
U19 AI 107810-Supplement (PI: Baric) 09/01/14-05/31/15 NIH/NIAID $57,395 Characterization of novel genes encoded by RNA and DNA viruses”
According to his curriculum vita (see above) his funding for the project does not appear to have suffered, whether or not this included gain-of-function research in the 30 May 2015- Dec. 19 2017 period https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/nih-lifts-funding-pause-gain-function-research
Although it was initially supposed to be for only a few months, the gain of function pause was actually not officially lifted until December 19, 2017:
https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/nih-lifts-funding-pause-gain-function-research

Here a total of over $10.5 milllion NIAID funding is listed, i.e. over $2 million per year for years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. “Characterization of novel genes encoded ty RNA and DNA viruses” 5U19AI107810-02 https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8687583

Below is an excerpt from Zhengli Shi’s curriculum vita. Notice funding from USAID and NIAID. The PI for the USAID project is JK Mazet of UC-Davis, who appears to have contracted it out to EcoHealth Alliance in NYC, who in turn contracted it out to Zhengli Shi of the Wuhan Institute of Virology:
Family Name: Shi
Given Name: Zhengli
07/01/2000 – Present, Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
01/10/2014-30/09/2019 Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT 2_China, United States Agency of International Development, project no: AID-OAA-A-14-00102. Country Coordinator. 559,500 US dollars.

Click to access Zhengli-Shi.pdf

Family Name: Shi
Given Name: Zhengli
07/01/2000 – Present, Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
01/06/2014-31/05/2019 The ecology of bat coronaviruses and the risk of future coronavirus emergence. National Institutes of Health NIAID R01AI110964. 665,000 US dollars. https://www.ws-virology.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Zhengli-Shi.pdf

Covid-19 being designed-developed in the United States and escaping from the Wuhan lab can both be true (or false). They aren’t mutually exclusive. On the contrary, US based researchers and Chinese from the Wuhan lab were all involved in Coronavirus research, which converted a bat coronavirus into one which could cause a human epidemic, and pandemic. A researcher at a Swiss-Italian institute was also involved in providing monoclonal antibodies.

While we believe that someone let Covid-19 out of a lab (or multiple labs), we don’t know who did it. Most of the researchers probably simply suffer from hubris, but all researchers connected to coronavirus research must be investigated – not just Fauci.
So too must all those researchers connected to “virus hunting”, whether coronaviruses, Ebola and related viruses, etc. Along with Baric and EcoHealth Alliance, eyes need to be upon JK (Jonna) Mazet at UC Davis. Many government funded researchers had a motive, as big, or bigger, than the pharmaceutical and biotech companies, for letting Covid-19 escape and spread. In short, they could be like the fireman who sets fires. Their academic survival almost certainly depends upon grant monies. Mazet discusses the importance of funding at around 6 minutes here: https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=18894 It is also possible that it was done by someone who lost their funding, for instance a foreigner on an F-1, OPT, or H1B visa, whose presence in the USA depended upon funding (cut under Trump). Then, of course, they could have been ordered or bribed by the Chinese government, or other parties, for socio-political reasons.

Additional Information:

“A Mouse-Adapted SARS-Coronavirus Causes Disease and Mortality in BALB/c Mice by Anjeanette Roberts1, Damon Deming2, Christopher D. Paddock3, Aaron Cheng1, Boyd Yount4, Leatrice Vogel1, Brian D. Herman1, Tim Sheahan2, Mark Heise2,5,6, Gillian L. Genrich3, Sherif R. Zaki3, Ralph Baric2,4,5, Kanta Subbarao1*
1 Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America,
2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America,
3 Infectious Disease Pathology Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America,
4 Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America,
5 Carolina Vaccine Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America,
6 Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America

No single animal model for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) reproduces all aspects of the human disease. Young inbred mice support SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) replication in the respiratory tract and are available in sufficient numbers for statistical evaluation. They are relatively inexpensive and easily accessible, but their use in SARS research is limited because they do not develop illness following infection. Older (12- to 14-mo-old) BALB/c mice develop clinical illness and pneumonitis, but they can be hard to procure, and immune senescence complicates pathogenesis studies. We adapted the SARS-CoV (Urbani strain) by serial passage in the respiratory tract of young BALB/c mice. Fifteen passages resulted in a virus (MA15) that is lethal for mice following intranasal inoculation. Lethality is preceded by rapid and high titer viral replication in lungs, viremia, and dissemination of virus to extrapulmonary sites accompanied by lymphopenia, neutrophilia, and pathological changes in the lungs. Abundant viral antigen is extensively distributed in bronchial epithelial cells and alveolar pneumocytes, and necrotic cellular debris is present in airways and alveoli, with only mild and focal pneumonitis. These observations suggest that mice infected with MA15 die from an overwhelming viral infection with extensive, virally mediated destruction of pneumocytes and ciliated epithelial cells. The MA15 virus has six coding mutations associated with adaptation and increased virulence; when introduced into a recombinant SARS-CoV, these mutations result in a highly virulent and lethal virus (rMA15), duplicating the phenotype of the biologically derived MA15 virus. Intranasal inoculation with MA15 reproduces many aspects of disease seen in severe human cases of SARS. The availability of the MA15 virus will enhance the use of the mouse model for SARS because infection with MA15 causes morbidity, mortality, and pulmonary pathology. This virus will be of value as a stringent challenge in evaluation of the efficacy of vaccines and antivirals.

Citation: Roberts A, Deming D, Paddock CD, Cheng A, Yount B, et al. (2007) A mouse-adapted SARS-coronavirus causes disease and mortality in BALB/c mice. PLoS Pathog 3(1): e5. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030005 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17222058/

The Bio Basic discussed appears to be the same as BIO BASIC Inc, registered in New York. The parent company seems to be BBI Life Sciences Corporation started by David Qisong Wang (apparently of Wuhan): Ms. Jin Wang, CEO of the NY subsidiary, is his daughter. The Bio Basic that we have found online is based in Markham Ontario (Toronto suburb):
“Selected Entity Name: BIO BASIC, INC.
Selected Entity Status Information
Current Entity Name: BIO BASIC, INC.
DOS ID# 4030721
Initial DOS Filing Date: December 14, 2010
County: ERIE; Jurisdiction: New York
Entity Type: Domestic Business Corporation
Current Status: Active
DOS Process (Address to which DOS will mail process if accepted on behalf of the entity)
C/O MARK J. BELLANCA, CPA, P.C.
17 SUNRISE BLVD.
WILLIAMSVILLE, NEW YORK, 14221
CEO: JIN WANG
4160 BAILEY AVE
AHMERST, NEW YORK, 14226
Principal Executive Office:
BIO BASIC INC
4160 BAILEY AVE
AHMERST, NEW YORK, 14226” https://appext20.dos.ny.gov/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION

However, it appears to be a subsidiary of this BBI Life Sciences Corporation:
Ms. Jin Wang is the daughter of Mr. [David] Qisong Wang, who is Chairman and executive director of the BBI Life Sciences Corporation. He graduated from Wuhan University with a Bachelor of Science in Organic Chemistry in July 1965, so may originally be from Wuhan. In 2001, Mr. Qisong Wang was a founder of Shanghai Sangon Biological Engineering Technology & Services Co, Ltd. (“SSBETS”). From 2009-2010 he was a director of Bio Basic USA Inc. (“BBI US”) [listed as inactive in the New York data base]. He is also Chairman and Director of Sangon Biotech. He is Executive Director of Shanghai Qisong Investment Consulting Company Limited (“BBI China”). From August 1965 to May 1985, he was Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, China Academy of Sciences. From March 1980 to March 1983, he “was seconded to the University of Toronto in Canada as a visiting scholar”. [Does “seconded to” mean that the Chinese Government sent him on a mission?]. Mr. Wang was Associate Professor at the Institute of Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University from June 1985 to October 1991. He served as an expert member in the Biotechnology Group of the State High-Tech Development Plan (863 Programme) from June 1987 to December 1989. He served as a consultant to the UN Industrial Development Organization from March to August 1991. Mr. Wang is a Supervisor of Wuhan Wenwang Cultural Education and Communication Limited. He is a graduate of Wuhan University in Hubei Province, PRC and was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Organic Chemistry in July 1965. He is the father of Ms. Wang Luojia and Ms. Wang Jin. See: https://archive.md/ykVY7

In 2010 “Sangon & Bio Basic Inc. Closes $10 Million Round of Investment by Qiming Ventures Aug 3, 2010 11:43am
Sangon & Bio Basic Inc. Closes $10 Million Round of Investment by Qiming Ventures
 SHANGHAI, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Sangon Biotech, a Shanghai based life science research service company, and Bio Basic Inc. (BBI), a Toronto based life science research service company, announced today the completion of a $10 million round of funding from Qiming Ventures. The company is using the funding to scale research & development, marketing and sales of its life science research tools including biochemical reagents, protein, antibody, research kit, DNA synthesis service, etc. to meet increasing demand.

David Qisong Wang, the founder and Chairman introduced: “Shanghai Sangon Biotechnology has become one of leaders in China’s life sciences R&D services. Starting from Canada, BBI is growing rapidly and offering a breath of high quality products and services to customers worldwide through our direct sales and service team and distributors in 40 countries.”

Regarding this recent financing, David added: “We started to consider raising one round from an investor who really knows our business and could be our true partner. Quite some investors approached us and we believe Qiming Ventures is the one. This investment validates our vision of accelerating life science research in a cost effective way.https://archive.md/HZu8L https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiming_Venture_Partners

WHY WOULD THEY BUY IT FROM BIO BASIC INSTEAD OF OBTAINING IT FROM BEI? LACK OF APPROVAL? OR?

“BEI Resources was established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to provide reagents, tools and information for studying Category A, B, and C priority pathogens, emerging infectious disease agents, non-pathogenic microbes and other microbiological materials of relevance to the research community.  BEI Resources acquires, authenticates and produces reagents that scientists need to carry out basic research and develop improved diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapies. By centralizing these functions within BEI Resources, access to and use of these materials in the scientific community is monitored and quality control of the reagents is assured.

In addition to supplying the infectious disease community with materials, BEI Resources also encourages and supports the deposit of materials from researchers and institutions. Depositing materials with BEI Resources has many advantages to the researcher and the research community including secure storage, community access and distribution; all while protecting the intellectual property rights of the depositor. The BEI Resources repository will be maintained as a resource for researchers as long as there is need.  Your deposit into BEI Resources is a long term investment to aid future research.

BEI Resources has been managed under contract by American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) since 2003.  A seven-year contract to continue managing BEI Resources was awarded to ATCC in May 2016. The scope of the contract has expanded to a more comprehensive catalog of research materials, including those deposited by other Government-supported research projects, to be made available to the biodefense and emerging infectious disease scientific communities. Fungal, Parasite, Vector and other relevant Materials have been added to the existing Bacterial, Viral and Toxin reagents which cover NIAID Category A, B and C Priority Pathogens and NIAID designated emerging infectious disease agents and organisms.

You can search our catalog of reagents for a list of items in our current catalog.  Scientists must be registered with BEI Resources to request materials.  https://www.beiresources.org/About/BEIResources.aspx

NR-44006  SARS coronavirus, Recombinant Infectious Mouse-Adapted Mutant of Urbani Strain (icSARS-CoV-MA15)
(Viruses)

Price: All BEI Resources products are provided
at no cost to registered researchers.
Description: Recombinant Infectious Mouse-Adapted Mutant of Urbani Strain (icSARS-CoV-MA15)
Organism: SARS coronavirus
Biosafety Level 3
Availability Status: In Stock
Store at -60°C or colder
Contributor: RS Baric
Comments: Quantity limit per order for this item is 1. This item can be ordered twice a year. Orders over this limit will be sent to NIAID for approval before shipment.

The complete genome of SARS-CoV, MA15 has been sequenced (GenBank: FJ882957).

NR-44006 is an engineered recombinant coronavirus based on a full-length infectious clone of the SARS-CoV, Urbani genome. SARS-CoV, Urbani was serially passaged in the lungs of BALB/c mice fifteen times, and biological clones from lung homogenates were screened for lethality. One clone, MA15, which was 100% lethal in BALB/c mice within six days of inoculation, was sequenced. Six coding mutations associated with mouse adaptation and increased virulence were identified and inserted into cDNA clones that were used to construct and rescue an infectious recombinant mutant clone of SARS-CoV, Urbani. The recombinant virus was highly virulent and lethal, reproducing the phenotype of the biologically derived MA15.

Each vial contains approximately 1 mL of cell lysate and supernatant from Vero E6 (C1008) cells (ATCC ® CRL-1586™) infected with icSARS-CoV-MA15.

Citation: Acknowledgment for publications should read “The following reagent was obtained through BEI Resources, NIAID, NIH: SARS Coronavirus, Recombinant Infectious Mouse-Adapted Mutant of Urbani Strain (icSARS-CoV-MA15), NR-44006.”

Publications citing this reagent: Rappazzo, C. G., et al. “Broad and Potent Activity Against SARS-Like Viruses by an Engineered Human Monoclonal Antibody.” Science. 371 (2021): 823-829. doi: 10.1126/science.abf4830. PubMed: 33495307.

Additional information and tools are available at ViPR (Virus Pathogen Resource).

▪ If shipping to the U.S. state of Hawaii, you must provide either an import permit or documentation stating that an import permit is not required. We cannot ship this item until we receive this documentation. Contact the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA), Plant Industry Division, Plant Quarantine Branch to determine if an import permit is required.

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See: https://www.beiresources.org/Catalog/animalViruses/NR-44006.aspx