8 votes

University of North Carolina researchers were potentially exposed to lab-created coronaviruses in several incidents since 2015, highlighting the risks even in respected research facilities

Posted by spit-evil-olive-tips
Tags: usa.nc, virology, research, coronaviruses, university of north carolina, science, researchers, author.alison young, author.jessica blake, source.propublica
https://www.propublica.org/article/near-misses-at-unc-chapel-hills-high-security-lab-illustrate-risk-of-accidents-with-coronaviruses

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Title
Near Misses at UNC Chapel Hill's High-Security Lab Illustrate Risk of Accidents With Coronaviruses
Word count
2674 words

1 comment

  1. spit-evil-olive-tips
    (edited )
    Link
    Just to make sure it's clear, these incidents happened with other coronaviruses, not SARS-CoV-2 in particular. But: A companion story has details on the incidents: Shout-out to ProPublica and the...

    Just to make sure it's clear, these incidents happened with other coronaviruses, not SARS-CoV-2 in particular. But:

    While no one is suggesting that UNC created the virus that causes COVID-19, alone or with the Wuhan lab, such near misses highlight the potential risks of an infected lab worker exposing the public even in the most secure and respected research facilities as they search for treatments and vaccines.

    The university has declined to publicly disclose key details about the incidents, including the names of viruses involved, the nature of the modifications made to them and what risks were posed to the public, contrary to National Institutes of Health guidelines.

    A companion story has details on the incidents:

    From Jan. 1, 2015, through June 1, 2020, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported 28 lab incidents involving genetically engineered organisms to safety officials at the National Institutes of Health, according to documents UNC released to ProPublica under a public records request.

    Shout-out to ProPublica and the investigative journalism they do - it's not mentioned explicitly but "released to ProPublica under a public records request" means there must have been hours of tedious work put in to examining those documents just to see if there's a story here, in addition to all the time (and frequently, legal battles) involved in pursuing the public records requests in the first place.

    5 votes