China Lab-Engineers 12 New Bird Flu Viruses with Enhanced 'Malian Adaptation and Increased Virulence': Journal 'Food and Environmental Virology'
Chinese government researchers created lab-grown viruses with mutations linked to immune evasion and species-jumping.
A new peer-reviewed study asserts that Chinese government-funded scientists have genetically engineered 12 novel strains of H9N2 avian influenza virus that contain mutations linked to enhanced mammalian adaptation and increased virulence.
The work is troubling, considering Congress, the White House, the Department of Energy, the FBI, and the CIA have acknowledged that a lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is most likely the origin of the COVID pandemic, raising concerns that ongoing experiments like these could trigger another one.
It comes after this website reported that Chinese scientists had, in another study, synthetically rebuilt an H5N1 bird flu virus from genetic code, producing a clone 13 times more lethal in mammals than a prior strain—confirming a global pattern of government-backed gain-of-function bird flu engineering spanning China, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Brazil.
Published July 6, 2025, in Food and Environmental Virology, the new study details a multi-year environmental surveillance effort at a live poultry market (LPM) in Changsha, China, from 2021 to 2023.
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Researchers collected 970 biosamples from air, poultry, water, and surfaces.
Using real-time PCR, the authors reported alleged avian influenza virus (AIV) presence in 68.45% of samples, with H9 subtype results said to be 53.51% overall and 72.5% in aerosols.
To characterize the virus, researchers selected 45 H9-positive samples and injected them into specific-pathogen-free chicken embryos, a process known to induce mutations and drive viral adaptation.
After incubation and hemagglutination testing, 30 viral isolates were recovered.
Twelve of these isolates underwent full-genome sequencing, and all were confirmed as brand-new strains of H9N2.
The resulting viruses featured multiple mutations associated with mammalian infectivity, including:
HA (Hemagglutinin) mutations at the receptor binding site (RBS): V223A, N224H, and N193T, which the authors note may alter the spatial conformation and binding potential to human-type receptors.
PB2 mutation E627V, a known marker for enhanced replication in mammalian cells.
T676M in PB2 and I368V in PB1, both linked to cross-species transmission.
Additional internal gene mutations in PA, M1, NS1, and NP associated with virulence and adaptation in mammals.
“These AIV strains... might pose a potential infection risk to the humans,” the authors write.
“Compared to the reference strains of H9N2 subtype in Hunan Province from 2009 to 2015, these 12 novel strains exhibited key mutations in certain internal gene segments such as PB1 (I368V), PA (A343S, K356R, S409N, and A515T), M1 (N30D and T215A), and NS1 (P42S, F103L, M106I), which were associated with mammalian adaptation and increased virulence (Dankar et al., 2013; Guo et al., 2022; Soubies et al., 2010).”
The viruses were genetically distinct from earlier Chinese vaccine strains like F/98, 6/96, and SS/94, though they were said to show some similarity to WHO’s IDCDC-RG61A reference strain.
Phylogenetic analysis reportedly showed the isolates cluster into the G57 genotype, a lineage previously linked to zoonotic spillover and pandemic potential.
While the study does not explicitly label the work as gain-of-function, the lab-based amplification and resulting novel genome sequences fit the definition of engineered viral variants with enhanced traits.
The authors performed homology modeling using SWISS-MODEL and PyMOL, confirming that several of the identified RBS mutations may significantly change the purported virus’s three-dimensional structure.
The study was backed by the Chinese government:
Hunan Natural Science Foundation (Grants 2022JJ70131 and 2023JJ60399)
Major Research Projects of Hunan High-Level Health Talents (R2023169)
Scientific Research Project of Hunan Provincial Health Commission (202212064383 and 202212064269)
These researchers successfully lab-generated new viral strains with genetic signatures indicating they are more capable of infecting mammals, including humans.
The findings raise significant concerns about biosafety and the potential for laboratory-derived influenza viruses to escape containment and spark new outbreaks.
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Why is this allowed anywhere in the world?
We need to stop gain of function research NOW!