Richard, Since you haven't come up with an opinion on the WSN/33 sequences in swine in Korea (other than nonsense about contamination), and this is where the SI Biotech "gurus" hang out, here are a few additional data points that you can factor in.
The WSN/33 swine sequences are over 99% homologous to WSN/33 in all 8 genes (only half of PB2 is present, but that half is over 99% homologous to WSN/33). However, there are a few polymorphisms that are in all of the WSN/33 swine sequences, but not in WSN/33 or avian sequences. Instead, these polymorphisms are found in various swine isolates with human like surface proteins (subtypes H1N1, H1N2, H2N2, H3N2), including many in the midwest. The swine isolates are now showing up in turkeys in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Ohio.
recombinomics.com
Thus, your contamination allusions not only need to get contaminating WSN/33 sequences into the pigs in Korea, but also explain the more modern polymorphisms which are showing up this year and last year in the US turkeys (as well as midwestern US swine from the past several years).
I expect this story to break next week, and it will NOT be good news for Biotechs, because the public doesn't like lethal lab escapees. |
