Hi John, thank you for producing this newsletter. I have found it to be invaluable- most especially given the hyper-politicization of everything these days.
I’m curious to know how much the virus itself, especially in comparison to other endemic coronaviruses in the area of origin?
If the wet market isn’t the likely point of origin, where else might be an area species overlap that would produce a spillover event?
I’m also curious to get your thoughts on variants and vaccine ‘break-through’. I imagine that in the design phase of vaccine development, a highly conserved protein/epitope/antigen would be the target.
are these true break-through events by these variants or is more likely just an issue of variability of vaccine efficacy among individuals?
How much do we know about how these emerging variants differ from the OG SARS-CoV-2?
And lastly, how are viruses speciated? I know offspring viability tends to be the litmus test for organisms, but when does a variant get its own Wikipedia page?
If you’ve answered any of the above before, apologies! And thank you again for your work.
About that frozen food hypothesis ... transmission by eating doesn't exist. You, IIRC, agreed with that a few days ago. So that's only possible if Wuhan citizens are in the habit of powdering frozen meat and snorting it up their noses. I am confused.
Hi John, thank you for producing this newsletter. I have found it to be invaluable- most especially given the hyper-politicization of everything these days.
I’m curious to know how much the virus itself, especially in comparison to other endemic coronaviruses in the area of origin?
If the wet market isn’t the likely point of origin, where else might be an area species overlap that would produce a spillover event?
I’m also curious to get your thoughts on variants and vaccine ‘break-through’. I imagine that in the design phase of vaccine development, a highly conserved protein/epitope/antigen would be the target.
are these true break-through events by these variants or is more likely just an issue of variability of vaccine efficacy among individuals?
How much do we know about how these emerging variants differ from the OG SARS-CoV-2?
And lastly, how are viruses speciated? I know offspring viability tends to be the litmus test for organisms, but when does a variant get its own Wikipedia page?
If you’ve answered any of the above before, apologies! And thank you again for your work.
Kind regards.
About that frozen food hypothesis ... transmission by eating doesn't exist. You, IIRC, agreed with that a few days ago. So that's only possible if Wuhan citizens are in the habit of powdering frozen meat and snorting it up their noses. I am confused.