[45ure]

>These guys that published such a paper are either completely clueless or nefarious in trying to stir up conspiracy theories.

In your opinion, do you think this kind of subterfuge could have been picked up by Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding or someone with a similar calibre, before broadcasting this preprint for wider consumption? Thanks.

[folli]

I have not heard from this guy before (I work in microbial genomics, he seems to be in the field of health economics from a quick search), so I can't comment on that.

[perseusprime11]

Outside of the assertion that it is related to HIV, does the original argument around deliberate insertions hold any water?

[folli]

Occam's razor says no. The coronavirus spike protein is responsible for receptor binding and entry into the cell. Different strains with different hosts bind to different receptors, so they have differences in their spike protein sequences. Mutations in the spike protein are expected in the evolution of coronavirus.

[45ure]

Your reply is much appreciated.