Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali • Hacker News Board

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#11

Post by tyingq » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 8:42 PM UTC

brucethemoose2 wrote: post #10

Again, what is the motive? Where is the money coming from? Secret COVID HIV rats is a Bond villian thing, not something actual criminals do to make a buck.

I'm sure there are more reasons, but modified herpes and HIV have both been used as experimental cancer treatments.

Edit: It appears they made a variety of in-vitro tests during their peak operating period. For diseases, pregnancy, drugs, etc. So probably more about "criminally sloppy lab" than any more movie-worthy motive.

An old wayback grab of their product page: https://web.archive.org/web/20190731163304/http://universal-...

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#12

Post by tomjen3 » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 9:12 PM UTC

AequitasOmnibus wrote: post #5

> Wang Zhaolin, a representative of the company operating the lab, Prestige Biotech, told investigators that the mice inside the warehouse had been genetically engineered to catch and spread the COVID-19 virus, according to The San Joaquin Valley Sun. This fact alone shocks the conscience. Criminal charges should fly swift and fierce against everyone involved in this illegal operation. What’s horrifying is that this…

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Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#13

Post by treeman79 » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 9:21 PM UTC

andrewstuart wrote: post #3

All the transmissibility of herpes with the damage of HIV. Of course, of course. Totally safe of course. Zero chance of lab escape. I do hear there are wet markets nearby though…..

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Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#14

Post by sct202 » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 9:31 PM UTC

brucethemoose2 wrote: post #10

Again, what is the motive? Where is the money coming from? Secret COVID HIV rats is a Bond villian thing, not something actual criminals do to make a buck.

Universal Meditech Inc one of the companies referenced made covid rapid tests, so the most charitable take on this is it was a sloppily run lab trying to make money on covid tests. There's a recall notice the FDA issued, so they did make something. https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety...

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#15

Post by tinus_hn » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 9:44 PM UTC

DANmode wrote: post #9

whimsicalism wrote: post #7

Does anyone have reporting from a higher quality source?

Previously on HN: CDC detects coronavirus, HIV, hepatitis and herpes at unlicensed California lab https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36921530 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresn...

There the story is being put down because it kind of sounds like the lab leak theory so obviously it can’t be true. The cognitive dissonance is strong.

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#16

Post by seatac76 » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 9:56 PM UTC

This is the stuff of horror movies, so much can go wrong. How are they even able to acquire such material without some oversight?

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#17

Post by newaccount74 » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 10:05 PM UTC

tinus_hn wrote: post #15

DANmode wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Previously on HN: CDC detects coronavirus, HIV, hepatitis and herpes at unlicensed California lab https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36921530 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresn...

There the story is being put down because it kind of sounds like the lab leak theory so obviously it can’t be true. The cognitive dissonance is strong.

It's being put down because it does not sound like the lab leak theory. It just sounds like a sloppy lab.

Where do you think all those cheap covid tests came from? I'd bet a lot of them came from grey area labs that probably didn't follow regulations too closely. Considering how imprecise they were...

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#18

Post by topato » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 10:52 PM UTC

AequitasOmnibus wrote: post #5

> Wang Zhaolin, a representative of the company operating the lab, Prestige Biotech, told investigators that the mice inside the warehouse had been genetically engineered to catch and spread the COVID-19 virus, according to The San Joaquin Valley Sun. This fact alone shocks the conscience. Criminal charges should fly swift and fierce against everyone involved in this illegal operation. What’s horrifying is that this…

Whenever I see a company using Prestige in their name, I can't help but think back to the hit Hollywood movie 'Stepbrothers', and the titular brothers' fictional company, Prestige Worldwide

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#19

Post by Paul-Craft » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 11:08 PM UTC

AequitasOmnibus wrote: post #5

> Wang Zhaolin, a representative of the company operating the lab, Prestige Biotech, told investigators that the mice inside the warehouse had been genetically engineered to catch and spread the COVID-19 virus, according to The San Joaquin Valley Sun. This fact alone shocks the conscience. Criminal charges should fly swift and fierce against everyone involved in this illegal operation. What’s horrifying is that this…

Cool your jets there, Maverick. It's not even clear from the article what was illegal about the lab, much less that China was operating it. You can't just say "illegal lab," "COVID-19 virus," and some random Chinese name and jump to those conclusions.

Re: Illegal lab containing bioengineered mice infected with HIV and herpes in Cali

#20

Post by yumraj » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 11:18 PM UTC

Paul-Craft wrote: post #19

AequitasOmnibus wrote: post #5

> Wang Zhaolin, a representative of the company operating the lab, Prestige Biotech, told investigators that the mice inside the warehouse had been genetically engineered to catch and spread the COVID-19 virus, according to The San Joaquin Valley Sun. This fact alone shocks the conscience. Criminal charges should fly swift and fierce against everyone involved in this illegal operation. What’s horrifying is that this…

Cool your jets there, Maverick. It's not even clear from the article what was illegal about the lab, much less that China was operating it. You can't just say "illegal lab," "COVID-19 virus," and some random Chinese name and jump to those conclusions.

Occam’s Razor: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor

Also: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresn...

An investigation found the tenant was Prestige BioTech, a company registered in Nevada and unlicensed for business in California. City officials spoke with Xiuquin Yao, who was identified as the company president, through emails included in the court documents.

Yao told officials that Prestige BioTech moved assets belonging to a defunct company, Universal Meditech Inc., to the Reedley warehouse from Fresno after UMI went under. Prestige Biotech was a creditor to UMI and identified as its successor, according to court documents.

Officials were unable to get any California-based address for either company except for the previous Fresno location from which UMI had been evicted.

"The other addresses provided for identified authorized agents were either empty offices or addresses in China that could not be verified," court documents said.