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The Good and Bad of Research during the Pandemic
In an effort to cut through the constant noise, I've decided to put together a short list of some of the most impactful, relevant and/or noteworthy academic articles for anyone trying to learn more about the science behind the pandemic. In an unprecedented move, most of the research related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus was made openly available to all scientists and the public at large, in order to facilitate the spread of information needed to develop counter-measures as quickly as possible.
As a result, the global response is truly the largest scientific project in human history; scientists and academics from almost every discipline have been engaged in some form of work designed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. More than 100,000 articles have been written in 2020 so far (the 77,000 count was just for Jan-Jul), which means that someone would have to read 370 per day just to keep pace (2,000-10,000 pages).
First, I should point out that many of the articles I've listed weren't published from a medical journal, although all of them were written by scientists or physicians. Over the last 7 months, terms like 'peer-reviewed' have become more common in the news, although most of the mentions have been added to discredit news from sources that didn't bear that magic label. The truth about COVID-19 research is that all of it comes from a very small window of time, and a large volume of peer-reviewed studies have already been disproved. As an example, the Huanan Wet Market continued to be the supposed epicenter of the outbreak until China finally announced otherwise; the theory had crystallized via an article from the New England Journal of Medicine in late January, even though the first confirmed cases had no connection with the location. Zoonotic transfer from a Pangolin is another mistaken theory.
By contrast, six of my recommended articles come from somewhere other than the CDC database and have not been peer-reviewed; each of them goes beyond data and offers powerful insights into the origin of the pandemic, symptomology, virology and more. I haven’t read all 77K,, but I’ve learned a lot from the 400 I’ve read over time - enough to feel confident that this is a viable sampling of what is currently known and unknown about SARS-CoV-2. My full workbook includes all 77,000 submissions to the CDC & WHO databases, and I can send you a copy or it can be downloaded directly from the CDC archive.
I pulled all of the PubMed & WHO collections from the CDC archive; these 1st 10 provide a very detailed picture of the issues, themes and debates among the scientists on the front lines. #'s 1-3 are the primary publications detailing the discoveries and adventures of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, related to the retrieval/sequencing/experimenting of several BtCoV strains, taken as a response to a local outbreak of unknown pneumonia. >>>>#4 is the only extant primary source that details a mysterious pathogen that emerged in late 2012. >>>>#5 (Deja Vu) is actually one I disagree with, but is the most complete defense of a non-lab trigger to the pandemic.
>>>#6 (In Silico Comparison) was the first outright rejection of the pangolin transmission hypothesis-vindicated a few weeks later when China formally declared that the Huanan Wet Market was not the source of the pandemic). It was published outright by the scientist anyway, and was one of the first to publicly call for an inquiry into the research at the WIV. >>>#7 (Pathophysiology) was the most informative and insightful article discussing the full implications of COVID-19's supercharged affinity for the ACE2 protein receptor on human cells. After discussing each affected organ system, the authors also discuss vaccines and therapeutics. >>>#8 & #9 both assert that the pandemic virus accidently escaped from one of the two labs in Wuhan, but I would defer to the latter. Dr. Latham was the person responsible for the translation of #4, and the theory they put forth is the most likely (in my opinion). >>>>#11 (Asymptomatics) is the focus of my next article to be published, and probably the one that all CBRN Marines should be required to read; it provides insight into the transmission dynamics of SAR-CoV-2, along with some mitigation principles. Lastly, #'s 10 & 12 are two of the primary studies used to verify expectations about whether the pandemic would follow previous events and peak during flu season.
Author / Title / Added / Year/Journal/Publisher
Yang Jia-Lu et al Isolation and characterization of a bat SARS-like coronavirus that uses the ACE2 receptor 3/27 2013 Nature
Menachery et al A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence 3/27 2015 Nature Medicine
BZ Hu et al Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus 3/27 2017 PLoS Pathogens
Xu, Li The Analysis of Six Patients with Severe Pneumonia Caused by Unknown Virus 5/1 2013 Kun Ming Med. Univ., Master's Thesis
William & Andrew Gallaher
Nikolai Petrovsky et al. In Silico comparison of spike protein-ACE2 binding affinities across species; significance for the possible origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus 5/10 2020 Flinders University, Australia
Bourgonje et al ACE2, SARS-nCoV-2 and Pathophysiology of COVID-19 5/19 2020 The Journal of Pathology
Milton Leitenberg Did the SARS-CoV-2 virus arise from a BatCoV Research Program in a Chinese Laboratory - Very Possibly. 6/2 2020 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
J. Latham & A. Wilson A Proposed Origin for SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 Pandemic 7/14 2020 Independent Sceince News Wang, Li & Nair Global Seasonality of Human Seasonal Coonaviruses: A Clue for Post-Pandemic Circulating Season of SARS-nCoV-2?
7/10 2020 The Journal of Infectious Diseases Buzz Hollander Learning Our Lessons from Asymptomatic Covid-19 8/23 2020` RealClearScience
Sajadi et al Temperature, Humidity, and Latitude Analysis to Estimate Potential Spread and Seasonality of COVID-19 6/1 2020 JAMA-Network/PubMed