WillemPenn t1_iss4jok wrote on October 18, 2022 at 8:50 AM

Reply to comment by TorchFireTech in Boston University researchers claim to have developed new, more lethal COVID strain in lab - Researchers at Boston University added a spike protein from the Omicron variant with the original Wuhan strain, which has an 80% kill rate (in certain mice) by izumi3682

No, no they did not “objectively [create] the most contagious and deadly strain of COVID ….” The strain they created had an 80% kill rate in mice while the original had a 100%. This was done in a level 3 lab, has already been done in other labs, and was performed to help determine why Omicron is evading vaccines. Adding the original spike back in proved that the change in the spike protein is not what is making Omicron and it’s variants more effective at evading immune response among the vaccinated (as was originally posited). This experiment allows vaccine developers to reformulate their bivalent vaccine in a way that is more effective at protecting against the Omicron variants. Your fearmongering and hyperbole do not help with anything.