COVID-19: US funds research on kinds of viruses at China's Wuhan Institute, read details

Newly released public documents recently revealed details of the US-funded research on several types of coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. According to the report from the US news agency The Intercept, the American government has pumped $3.1 million into health organisation ‘EcoHealth Alliance’ to back COVID-19 research at the Chinese laboratory. The ‘bat coronavirus grant’ reportedly provided EcoHealth Alliance with a total of $3.1 million, including $599,000 that the Wuhan Institute used in part to identify and alter bat coronavirus likely to infect humans. 

According to the report, the documents revealed that experimental research on genetically engineered mice with human cell receptors was conducted at the Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, and not the WIV as previously assumed. It said that the grant proposals acknowledged some dangers associated with such experiments. It noted that fieldwork involves the “highest risk of exposure to SARS or other CoVs, while working in caves with high bat density overhead”.  

US Senator Rand Paul accuses NIAID Head Fauci of lying

Following the release of the papers, US Senator Rand Paul said that the documents revealing the extent of US funding of coronavirus research in Wuhan show that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Head Dr Anthony Fauci lied during his previous testimony to Congress. Previously, Fauci had denied any such funding by the US agency. But now, Senator Paul said that he has asked the Department of Justice to review the top health official’s testimony for lying to Congress.  

According to Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, the public documents contain critical information about the research done in China, including about the creation of novel viruses. In a series of tweets, Ebright said that the documents make it clear that two different types of novel coronaviruses were able to infect humanised mice. While the officials were working on SARS-related coronavirus, they were even carrying out a parallel project at the same time on MERS-related coronavirus, Ebright said, referring to the virus that caused Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. 

Further, the biologist went on to slam the US National Institute of Health (NIH) Director and NIAID Head Anthony Fauci. He said that the documents make it clear that assertions by Francis Collins and Fauci are “untruthful”. 

(With inputs from ANI)