Aug 4, 2022 02:56 AM
Fauci hiding truth on US lab research funding ahead of pandemic, scientist says
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/polic...tion-wuhan
INTRO: A scientist insisted Wednesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci is hiding the truth about the U.S. funding of research that could shed light on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic during the first hearing on the matter.
At issue during the Senate homeland security and governmental affairs subcommittee on emerging threats hearing is gain-of-function research, which can enhance the severity or transmissibility of existing viruses that may infect humans. Since the pandemic erupted globally in early 2020, many American suspicions have pointed to China.
Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been adamant that the National Institutes of Health did not fund gain-of-function research at a Chinese government lab.
But Dr. Richard Ebright, lab director for the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University, told senators Wednesday that Fauci was lying.
“The statements made on repeated occasions to the public, to the press, and to policymakers by ... Dr. Fauci have been untruthful,” Ebright said. “I do not understand why those statements are being made because they are demonstrably false.” (MORE - details)
RELATED (Scivillage thread): Studies link COVID-19 to wildlife sales at Chinese market, find other scenarios extremely unlikely
Government ‘not on course’ to turn UK into ‘science superpower’ by 2030, peers say
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien...37385.html
INTRO: Ministers are set to fall short in their promise to turn the UK into a “science and tech superpower” by 2030, according to a cross-party group of peers, who described the government’s science policy as “inconsistent and unclear”.
The House of Lords’ science and technology committee said the commitment was at risk of becoming “an empty slogan” without a “laser focus on implementation”.
The peers also expressed concern over the government’s failure to appoint a new science minister after George Freeman resigned and vacated the position on 7 July. A replacement is not expected to be appointed until the Conservative Party elects a new prime minister.
They called on Boris Johnson’s successor, due to be announced early next month, to prioritise appointing a minister for science, research and innovation to a cabinet-level position.
The peers concluded that the government’s international science policy “has been somewhat incoherent”, making the UK “appear unreliable and unwelcoming”. They added: “There is an urgent need to rebuild international relationships.”
In a report entitled "Science and technology superpower: more than a slogan?" (PDF), the politicians also said that the failure to secure association with Horizon Europe “risks harming the UK's reputation further and jeopardising the quality of its science base”... (MORE - details)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/polic...tion-wuhan
INTRO: A scientist insisted Wednesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci is hiding the truth about the U.S. funding of research that could shed light on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic during the first hearing on the matter.
At issue during the Senate homeland security and governmental affairs subcommittee on emerging threats hearing is gain-of-function research, which can enhance the severity or transmissibility of existing viruses that may infect humans. Since the pandemic erupted globally in early 2020, many American suspicions have pointed to China.
Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been adamant that the National Institutes of Health did not fund gain-of-function research at a Chinese government lab.
But Dr. Richard Ebright, lab director for the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University, told senators Wednesday that Fauci was lying.
“The statements made on repeated occasions to the public, to the press, and to policymakers by ... Dr. Fauci have been untruthful,” Ebright said. “I do not understand why those statements are being made because they are demonstrably false.” (MORE - details)
RELATED (Scivillage thread): Studies link COVID-19 to wildlife sales at Chinese market, find other scenarios extremely unlikely
Government ‘not on course’ to turn UK into ‘science superpower’ by 2030, peers say
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien...37385.html
INTRO: Ministers are set to fall short in their promise to turn the UK into a “science and tech superpower” by 2030, according to a cross-party group of peers, who described the government’s science policy as “inconsistent and unclear”.
The House of Lords’ science and technology committee said the commitment was at risk of becoming “an empty slogan” without a “laser focus on implementation”.
The peers also expressed concern over the government’s failure to appoint a new science minister after George Freeman resigned and vacated the position on 7 July. A replacement is not expected to be appointed until the Conservative Party elects a new prime minister.
They called on Boris Johnson’s successor, due to be announced early next month, to prioritise appointing a minister for science, research and innovation to a cabinet-level position.
The peers concluded that the government’s international science policy “has been somewhat incoherent”, making the UK “appear unreliable and unwelcoming”. They added: “There is an urgent need to rebuild international relationships.”
In a report entitled "Science and technology superpower: more than a slogan?" (PDF), the politicians also said that the failure to secure association with Horizon Europe “risks harming the UK's reputation further and jeopardising the quality of its science base”... (MORE - details)