32 votes

Illegal medical lab containing bioengineered mice and infectious agents including HIV and herpes discovered in Fresno, California

Posted by boxer_dogs_dance
Tags: medicine, usa.ca.fresno, laboratories, engineering.bio, diseases.infectious, crime, hiv, hepatitis, author.katherine tangalakis lippert, source.insider
https://www.insider.com/illegal-lab-found-full-of-bioengineered-mice-and-infectious-diseases-2023-7

Link information

This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.

Published
Jul 31 2023
Word count
407 words

7 comments

  1. spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    from an NBC News article with additional details: the tech industry "move fast and break things" / "regulations are red tape standing in the way of innovation" attitude really needs to be reined...

    from an NBC News article with additional details:

    An investigation found the tenant was Prestige BioTech, a company registered in Nevada and unlicensed for business in California. City officials spoke with Xiuquin Yao, who was identified as the company president, through emails included in the court documents.

    Yao told officials that Prestige BioTech moved assets belonging to a defunct company, Universal Meditech Inc., to the Reedley warehouse from Fresno after UMI went under. Prestige Biotech was a creditor to UMI and identified as its successor, according to court documents.

    the tech industry "move fast and break things" / "regulations are red tape standing in the way of innovation" attitude really needs to be reined in when it comes to things like biotech.

    28 votes
  2. [5]
    boon
    Link
    “ Wang Zhaolin, a representative of Prestige Biotech – the company operating the lab – told county investigators that the mice were genetically engineered to catch and carry the COVID-19 virus. “...

    “ Wang Zhaolin, a representative of Prestige Biotech – the company operating the lab – told county investigators that the mice were genetically engineered to catch and carry the COVID-19 virus. “

    Surely this can’t be right? The rep for the company had basically stated they were making bioweapons?

    21 votes
    1. Darrell_Winfield
      Link Parent
      Yeah, I saw that in several articles. Even with context, not doing themselves favors with that. According to some other articles, they were producing COVID tests, so it's certainly plausible that...

      Yeah, I saw that in several articles. Even with context, not doing themselves favors with that.

      According to some other articles, they were producing COVID tests, so it's certainly plausible that they were using the mice to do quality control. I'm not sure if that's common practice or not, but it certainly is phrased in a way that implies bioweapons.

      11 votes
    2. Good_Apollo
      Link Parent
      It is insanely irresponsible to purposefully bioengineer mammals to be susceptible to certain viruses, with zero regulatory oversight. Regardless of their intentions these people need to be locked...

      It is insanely irresponsible to purposefully bioengineer mammals to be susceptible to certain viruses, with zero regulatory oversight. Regardless of their intentions these people need to be locked up, for good.

      9 votes
    3. tealblue
      Link Parent
      To be honest, the hammer needs to come down hard on stuff like this.

      To be honest, the hammer needs to come down hard on stuff like this.

      5 votes
    4. boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      It looks like every story has this quote. : (

      It looks like every story has this quote. : (

      1 vote
  3. Darrell_Winfield
    Link
    Interesting and horrifying at the same time. According to this and other articles, the company was using this lab to produce pregnancy tests and COVID-19 tests. Hanlon's razor makes it more likely...

    Interesting and horrifying at the same time. According to this and other articles, the company was using this lab to produce pregnancy tests and COVID-19 tests. Hanlon's razor makes it more likely that they were simply trying to avoid regulations and taxes, not trying to generate super-bugs or something nefarious.

    "illegally operated since October 2022 by Wang Zhaolin of Prestige Biotech"

    I've heard the Chinese rhetoric die down a lot since the early COVID days, but this definitely won't do wonders to repair relations.

    Also worth noting that this was discovered July 7th, so we're unlikely to see a spike in those diseases from this, since it would have already spread by now.

    14 votes