Most of the work wasn’t in the climb itself -- it wasn’t about the terrain, the path, the rocks, or even my body, my legs, or my breathing. The real work was in facing myself and my fears, every step up and back down

Chapter 5 now available for free. This is probably my favorite chapter, certainly the one featuring one of the most remarkable researchers and stories I was able to collect for my book on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. If you read just one chapter of my book, let it be this one You wont be disappointed

Thanks to producer @ellahubber.bsky.social for bashing this into shape

What crap is this? "The Queensland government says it wasn't "confident" a doctor was suitable to be the state's chief health officer" -do they not know the last 2 two Qld CHOs were medical doctors (and so stand-ins)?? The need is in the title guys. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

Not to belabor a "I told you so", but it's been clear for years that the whole "lab leak" discourse has absolutely nothing to do with a potential lab leak and everything to do with a broader anti-science agenda. I really, and truly, hope more scientists will realize this and take corrective action.

People were crossing the English Channel from far off lands back in Anglo Saxon times. And according to this burial style, were accepted into the community. You might think it a British tradition. www.science.org/content/arti...

Looks like one of our ‘imprinting’ papers was cited in the HHS data package, despite our conclusion that people receiving an ancestral mRNA vaccine were better at producing antibodies against variants compared to unvaccinated people.

Mop-top potato virus, which does not harm humans, has been found in multiple potatoes on a Tasmanian farm — a first for Australia.

The Guardian view on RFK Jr’s vaccine cuts: an assault on science from a politician unfit for his office bit.ly/45Azvbf

I will never get over how creepy it is how the NIH X account is a full time propaganda machine now

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya on Steve Bannon's War Room : “As Far As Public Health Goes For Vaccines, The mRNA Platform Is No Longer Viable” bit.ly/3UmknJm

Makes sense that diverse microbial communities can be maintained on a recalcitrant substrate like cellulose, but on glucose, surely not? Surprisingly there is no difference 🤔 The first part is live 👇 but more to come (including answers). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The unwarranted denial of travel visas for 8 respected international bat researchers was a shameful and embarrassing start to the International Bat Research Conference in Cairns. Well done to the ABS and Guardian for highlighting it @ibrc2025.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

You’d think at this moment in history we would be falling over ourselves to show we are welcoming scientists and science. It’s always struck me as one area of the law (here and in most other countries) where you are presumed guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

You're better than this Australia: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We warned the BBC this look at the state of science under the Trump admin might need last minute adjustments, and sure enough, overnight between drafts 1 & 2 came the RFK mRNA decision. That warrants only a single sentence, we've so much already. But we go in-depth into the ACIP vaccine committee.

50 years ago The first photograph of the Sex Pistols (Johnny Rotten, Glen Matlock, Steve Jones, and Paul Cook) in the backyard of a pub where they rehearsed in Chiswick, London, in August/September 1975. Photo by John Gray.

Excited for the Infectious Diseases in Bats symposium today where I will be presenting our research #ibrc2025

Stone tools from Sulawesi at least a million years old may be even more ancient than those found on Flores, suggesting an even earlier presence of hominins on Wallacea www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Forwards? Or backwards? That is the question.

Horrific. mRNA vaccines have saved millions of lives and could save millions more. “I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a UMN expert on infectious diseases & pandemic preparations. www.huffpost.com/entry/rfk-va...

🤦‍♂️

"We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted..." Words really don't mean anything anymore, do they? The incompetence is staggering, the political motives, clear as day. www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...

New JCI paper led by postdoc Mikal Woods Acevedo shows immune cell infiltration—not viral load—drives paralysis in mice infected with enterovirus D68. Points to new targets for AFM treatment. 🔗 doi.org/10.1172/JCI1... #Virology #NeuroImmunity #PostdocSpotlight #AFM

How did the false bioweapon myth start? And what do a CCP-suspicious Hong Kong postdoc, an exiled Chinese billionaire and Steve Bannon cook up together in the early days of 2020? Read or listen to Lab Leak Fever, Chapter 2. 🔽 Freely accessible for everybody, anywhere.

theconversation.com/the-covid-la... After all this evidence, and now @philippmarkolin.bsky.social's new book, why the HELL is the lab leak "theory" still alive?

Very proud of the work from lab members and collaborators that coincidentally came out today www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... and www.nature.com/articles/s41.... A bacterial and viral pathogen associated with mass mortality in seastars and oysters. @kevinzhong2006.bsky.social @rhizalyssa.bsky.social

Reminder that FCS insertions are not rare or unusual & tend to resemble the OG SARS-2 FCS insert—7/9 nucs are G's in this one, consistent w/the normal G-heavy pattern of that dominates SARS-2 insertions. 1 seq uploaded today of this, which is actually in 7 sequences overall from late 2024. 1/3

I had no idea either -- thanks so much for this, @jeremymberg.bsky.social. Ebright's UG paper has been used to present him as some kind of genius (links in ALT). That it was a "communicated by" paper whose conclusion was false really changes the story...

Another email to Bhattacharya about his interview and his continued statements that NIH's gain of function research caused the COVID pandemic and killed millions of people. 1/8

Another straightforward take on the science of COVID origins, and the trouble with politicising it.

Turns out Richard Ebright too has a track record of publishing crap…who’d have thought it. Just wait and see how much GoF research he does with dangerous pathogens at arms length….

This thread has rather made my evening

Seeing Richard Ebright's name reminds me of another recent thread... bsky.app/profile/jere... 1/n

A week in and around one of my favorite places on earth

Happy August. Here is a little surprise for everybody: The english version of my book is finally available. You can get it on Amazon. You can also read and listen to it on my blog, where I will release the book as freely accessible serialized novel. 1/ www.protagonist-science.com/p/lab-leak-f...

Conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins hurt our ability to prevent the next pandemic theconversation.com/how-conspira... "...virus very likely emerged through a natural spillover from animals – a 'zoonosis'" Debate "...increasingly been shaped by political agendas & conspiratorial narratives."

GREAT editorial—essential reading “most available & accessible published scientific evidence supports a zoonotic origin” Yup, that’s what the science shows Such a superb line: “maintaining neutrality on this issue amounts to performative uncertainty to create the veneer of academic detachment”

Among the many issues that this piece highlights is how the conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 origins have remained almost entirely focused on a handful of chat logs and email threads from five years ago while the science has been evolving and pointing more and more towards zoonosis.

It's important to repeat this, as the lab leak nonsense has been a driving force of the attacks on science, the current state of the US, etc. 👇👇

Excellent article. I like the title. This is the piece that should have been in the New York Times.

#Breaking: Vinay Prasad, a top official at the Food and Drug Administration, has suddenly departed after a series of controversial decisions about a treatment for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/v...

Lab leak conspiracy theories are highly damaging “This anti-science agenda, stemming in part from COVID origin conspiracy theories, is being used to help justify deep cuts to funding for biomedical research, public health & global aid. These areas are essential for pandemic preparedness.”

Our research has been engulfed by an endless torrent of lab leak conspiracy theories about the origin of the pandemic - even as the evidence for zoonosis has only grown stronger. This fuels anti-science agendas and erodes public trust. Now, we respond 👇 theconversation.com/how-conspira...

Well worth reading, completely agree.

This is worth reading. The lab leak theory hasn't been ignored or suppressed, it just isn't well-supported by evidence.

Look at that. Love to see more of it

Good to see a few people sticking their necks out today by simply writing what's true.

The politically weaponized "lab leak" theory is destroying both pandemic preparedness & all of American science. Grateful to @kgandersen.bsky.social, @arambaut.bsky.social, @eddieholmes.bsky.social, & Bob Garry for their courage & commitment to our field. theconversation.com/how-conspira...