NIH Funds Creation of 200+ New 'Barcoded' COVID Viruses: Journal 'Science Advances'
NIH-backed scientists engineered over 200 transmissibility-enhanced SARS-CoV-2 constructs using reverse genetics, despite mounting evidence linking lab-made viruses to the origin of COVID-19.
A peer-reviewed study published earlier this year confirms that the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded researchers to create more than 200 synthetic versions of what is described as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, using lab-based genetic engineering to construct novel entities not found in nature.
The creation of these brand-new pathogens comes after Congress, the White House, the Department of Energy, the FBI, and the CIA acknowledged that a lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is most likely the origin of COVID-19, raising concerns that ongoing experiments like these could trigger another pandemic.
Published January 15, 2025, in the journal Science Advances, the new study was conducted at Washington University School of Medicine and funded by multiple NIH grants.
“This study was supported by the NIH [NIAID Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR)] contract 75N93021C00016 (A.C.M.B.), R01AI169022 (A.C.M.B.), and U01AI151810 (A.C.M.B. and D.W.),” the paper reads.
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200+ Synthetic Constructs Not Found in Nature, Created Using Reverse Genetics
The authors confirmed that the barcoded materials were fully synthetic and do not mirror any naturally circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineage.
The work was carried out in federally regulated BSL-3 biocontainment labs under NIH biosafety protocols.
The research team employed a reverse genetics system to construct a pool of over 200 genetically barcoded versions of the purported SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Each engineered unit contained a unique 6-nucleotide barcode inserted into the genome, allowing researchers to track individual constructs during animal exposure studies.
“We generated genetically BC [barcoded] SARS-CoV-2 viruses… We pooled >200 BC viruses and WT-D614G based on equal infectious viral titers,” the authors wrote.
These synthetic constructs were built from scratch in the lab and do not correspond to any known form occurring naturally in the environment.
Engineered for Enhanced Transmissibility
All of the constructs were deliberately modified to include the D614G spike mutation, an alteration associated with increased transmissibility in humans and animals.
“We also introduced a D614G mutation in the Spike gene of SARS-CoV-2,” the paper notes.
This mutation has been previously cited in virological literature as a gain-of-function trait, enhancing the ability of the construct to bind to host cells.
Other studies confirm the D614G mutation “enhances viral replication in human lung epithelial cells and primary human airway tissues by increasing the infectivity and stability of virions,” meaning it makes the pathogen more efficient at entering cells and sustaining transmission—hallmarks of gain-of-function enhancement.
Key Points:
NIH-funded researchers created over 200 synthetic SARS-CoV-2 constructs in the lab.
The team used reverse genetics to assemble genetic material not found in nature.
Each pathogen construct included a unique tracking barcode.
All were modified to carry the D614G mutation, enhancing transmissibility—a gain-of-function trait.
The research was supported by NIH grants and conducted under federal biocontainment protocols.
While researchers framed the project as a tool to study transmission, the creation of novel, transmissibility-enhanced constructs—underwritten by U.S. tax dollars—raises questions for those closely watching the broader scientific and regulatory landscape.
In the wake of a global pandemic likely sparked by similar research, the U.S. government is once again paying scientists to manufacture more of what it claims to be viruses—only this time, over 200 of them, built from scratch, souped up for transmissibility, and confined to a lab.
For now.
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