PLRC .

ORG Pacific Life Research Center

631 Kiely Boulevard * Santa Clara, CA 95051 * Phone & FAX by appointment 1-408-248-1815

PLRC-200501 1 May 2020

COVID-19
BIO-WARFARE AND THE 21ST CENTURY PANDEMIC
Compiled by Bob Aldridge
American universities have a long history of willingly permitting their research agenda,
researchers, institutes, and laboratories to be co-opted, corrupted, and perverted by the
Pentagon and the CIA into death science.
– Francis A. Boyle (Harrison)

As fake news abounds, there is one lone voice trying to educate people that COVID-19 is a lethal
biological warfare weapon of mass destruction. That person is Dr, Francis A. Boyle; professor
of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He authored Biowarfare and
Terrorism. He also drafted the U.S. Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 – the
American implementing legislation for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention that was
unanimously approved by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President
George Bush Sr. I will first lay the legal groundwork regarding biological weapons as put forth
in the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, and then put forth the biological background of
COVID-19..

The Illegality of Biological Weapons.

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)1 was signed in Washington D.C., London, and
Moscow on 10 April 1972. The Treaty went into force when the United States ratified it on 26
March 1975. Australia ratified the Treaty on 5 October 1977 and China acceded to the Treaty on
15 November 1984. These three countries, which I will discuss below, along with 180 other
Party-States (as of August 2019), are legally bound by the provisions and prohibitions of the
Treaty.
A summary of the pertinent Articles follows:
 Article I “undertakes never in any circumstances to develop, produce, stockpile or
otherwise acquire or retain … biological agents, or toxins whatever their origin or method
of production, of types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic,
protective or other peaceful purposes.”
 Article II obliges all Parties States to the Treaty to destroy all the prohibited agents within
six months after becoming a Party State to the Treaty.

1
Formal title: Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological
(Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction.
  Article III forbids transfer of any of the prohibited agents to any recipient whosoever, or
to encourage any other to manufacture or acquire any prohibited agents.
 Article X allows “the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials, and scientific
and technological information for the use of bacteriological (biological) agents and toxins
for peaceful purposes.” It also allows cooperating in “further development and
application of scientific discoveries in the field of bacteriology (biology) for prevention
of disease, or for other peaceful purposes.” (BWC)
The first three articles are pretty straightforward about the illegality of biological agents of toxins
whose only use is warfare. Unfortunately it is not that simple. Many such agents are alleged to
have a dual peace/war use. Article X allows production of those agents that can be claimed to
serve peaceful purposes, regardless of their warmaking capability. All the funding agency has to
do is claim they need to build a bioweapon to understand how to defend against it, or to make a
vaccine to counter it – and that they do profusely.
For instance, Boyle points out that the Galveston National Laboratory in Texas “say their work
with Ebola is for a vaccine, but the same technology can also be weaponized. Galveston is
working to aerosolize Ebola just as Ft. Detrick worked to aerosolize Anthrax. Aerosolization of a
biowarfare agent is always the tip-off to the development of a weapon to be delivered by air to
human beings who will breathe it in.” (Ross)

What is Coronavirus?
The four main sub-groupings of coronaviruses (CoVs) in animals are alpha, beta, delta, and
gamma. Human coronavirus was first discovered in the 1960s. The common types are from the
alpha and beta subgroups (two from alpha and two from beta). The US Center for Disease
Control (CDC) claims they mutated from animals.
Three more-serious human coronaviruses are;
 MERS (a beta coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – MERS)
 SARS (a beta Coronavirus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – SARS)
 COVID-19 (a SARS coronavirus that causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 – COVID-19)
MERS is said to have originated from bats in Saudi Arabia. Most human infections appear to
have come from infected camels; either directly or indirectly from another human that has been
infected by camels. Human to human transmission typically happens only through close living
contact. The first human case was identified in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia. As of 2020,
some 2,500 cases have been reported with most traced back to the Arabian Peninsula. So far,
there is no vaccine or treatment. Although it has a high fatality rate (35%), MERS is not a good
candidate for bio-warfare due to is poor human-to-human transmissibility. SARS, however, is a
very good contender.
SARS first appeared in the Guangdong Province of China in November 2002, and spread to 27
other countries resulting in 8,095 cases with 810 deaths – 9.6% fatalities. The virus was
contained in July 2003. A few more cases with one death occurred in 2004 because of leaks
from laboratories in Beijing, Taiwan, and Singapore; but they were a less serious, common
coronavirus. A SARS vaccine was developed but never used. There have been no more SARS
outbreaks until COVID-19. The official story is that SARS evolved naturally but the 2002-2003

2
pandemic amid so many laboratory leaks lends some credence to human intervention.
There is suspicion that MERS and SARS were genetically engineered from common types of
corona viruses. Barring a whistleblower, that probably can’t be confirmed from the outbreaks
prior to 2019. COVID-19 is a different story. Francis Boyle says ‘gain-of-function’ is the
smoking gun that proves COVID-19 is a biological weapon of mass destruction.

Gain-of-Function Research.
Gain-of-function (GOF) is the alteration of an already deadly virus, such as SARS, to be still
more lethal and more transmissible. Proponents of GOF research claim it is necessary to
understand the virus. A white paper on the ethics of GOF research – funded by the National
Institute of Health (NIH), a major funder of such research – says “Gain-of-Function research
involves experimentation that aims or is expected to (and/or, perhaps actually does) increase the
transmissibility and/or virulence of pathogens. Such research, when conducted by responsible
scientists, usually aims to improve understanding of disease causing agents, their interaction with
human hosts, and/or their potential to cause pandemics.” (Selgelid) Perhaps those responsible
scientists now understand how their disease causing agent will interact with human hosts and
have, indeed, discovered the potential of their work to cause a pandemic.
Other scientists say the risks outweigh the benefits and, considering the history of safety
violations and leaks at biological research labs, GOF research could actually start a pandemic,
which it has. Virologist Simon Wain-Hobson, of the Pasteur Institute in Paris said in 2015, four
years before the COVID-19 pandemic, that scientists have created a new virus that “grows
remarkably well. If the virus escaped, nobody could predict its trajectory.” (Butler) “More than
200 scientists called for the work to be halted.” (Guterl)
Responding to a surge of concerns in the scientific community about GOF studies, the White
House announced a pause in federal funding for GOF research on 16 October 2014.
On 19 November 2017 the Trump administration lifted the three-year-old GOF ban after the
newly-established Health and Human Service’s ‘Potential Pandemic Pathogen Care and
Oversight (HHS P3CO) Framework’ found it safe to proceed with GOF research on certain
pathogens. HHS Director Francis S. Collins wrote: “I am confident that the thoughtful review
process laid out by the HHS P3CO Framework will help to facilitate the safe, secure, and
responsible conduct of this type of research …” (Collins) History has shown that anything that
enhances the profits will be approved, and that was the case authorizing GOF experiments on
SARS.
When all the blinders, dollar signs, and pet projects are set aside, the only outcome of GOF
research is to weaponized pathogens. Molecular biologist Richard Enbright, a biodefense expert
at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said: “The only impact of this work is the creation, in a lab,
of a new, non-natural risk.” (Butler)
Regarding the HHS P3CO Framework, Harvard University epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch said:
“The question is how such reviews will play out in practice.” (Kaiser) COVID-19 answered that
question.

3
Does COVID-19 Have a Gain-of-Function?
Boyle bases his assertion that COVID-19 has a GOF on independent genetic analysis. One such
study, published in Antiviral Research, states: “Despite a high similarity with the genome
sequence of [SARS] and [COVID-19], we identified a peculiar furin-like cleavage site in the
spike protein of the [COVID-19], lacking in [SARS].” (Coutard, Valle, de Lamballerie, Canard,
Seidah, and Decroly)
Furin is an enzyme found in the lungs, liver, and small intestines of humans. A ‘furin-like
cleavage site’ is an area to which furins will stick (cleave). The furin-like cleavage site found on
COVID-19 is not found on other human coronaviruses or any other beta coronaviruses. What
does that mean?
The 2002-2003 SARS pandemic spread quickly from continent to continent but COVID-19 is
spreading much faster. That is because of the furin-like cleavage site. When a coronavirus
comes in contact with a human membrane, the spikes (spike proteins) of the virus cling to that
membrane. This clinging is activated by furin enzymes. The spike proteins of COVID-19
cleave to human membranes at least 10 times stronger than those of SARS. (See Sandolu)
It is this furin-like cleavage site that gives COVID-19 a GOF of 10 times SARS. “Other studies
have seconded the idea that the furin-like cleavage site is what makes [COVID-19] transmit so
efficiently and rapidly.” (Sandolu)
Furins and spike proteins are not the whole story. Once biologically activated by the furin
enzyme, the spike protein has to then bind to a receptor called angiotension-converting enzyme 2
(ACE2) to infect a human cell. “Recent studies have found that the spike protein of [COVID-19]
is between 10 and 20 times more likely to bind to human ACE2 than the spike protein of the
early 2000s SARS … The heightened affinity for a cellular receptor may be a factor which
increases transmission.” (AssayGenie)
The question now is if this GOF has come about by natural evolution (the official story) or was it
developed in a laboratory (Boyle’s assertion)

Is the GOF of COVID-19 Engineered?

In 2005, following the 2002-2003 SARS pandemic, researchers from the Wuhan Institute of
Virology (WIV – administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences) found that horseshoe bats
are sources of over 300 coronaviruses. In 2013 it was discovered that horseshoe bats near
Wuhan, China were infected with a SARS-like virus that was designated SHC014.
The WIV then built China’s first BSL-42 laboratory near Wuhan, with partial assistance from the
US. (Rapoza) It was completed in 2015. Documents dating back to that time indicate US
worries about safety. They were so worried that the US Embassy in Beijing sent a couple
delegations of US scientists to the Wuhan lab – the last on 27 March 2018. Those scientists
warned Washington that coronavirus experiments taking place at the lab had potential for human
transmission and warned of a new SARS-like pandemic. (See Rapoza)
Speaking about coronavirus, Boyle states that the Wuhan lab is also “a specially designated
2
Biologic Safety Level 4 (BSL-4), the highest safety level for biological laboratories. Only BSL-3 and BSL-4 labs
can work on SARS, MERS, and other dangerous diseases..

4
WHO [World Health Organization] research lab. The WHO was in on it and they knew full well
what was going on there.” He says: “You can’t really believe anything the WHO is telling you
about this either, they’re up to their eyeballs in it, in my opinion.” (GreatGameIndia-1)
Meanwhile, shortly after discovering SHC014 in horseshoe bats near Wuhan, the University of
North Carolina’s (UNC’s) BSL-3 lab at Chapel Hill started joint research with WIV to show that
the SARS-like SHC014 virus, with a novel protein spike, could be made to infect humans. That
proved to be impossible. Their initial experiment showed that SHC014 as it appears naturally in
bats cannot infect the Human ACE2 enzyme. It is no threat to humans in its natural form.
“Therefore we synthesized the SHC014 spike in the context of the replication-competent, mouse-
adapted SARS-CoV backbone (we hereafter refer to the chimeric 3 CoV as SHC014-MA15)4 …”
(Menachery, Yount, Debbink, et al) This version designed to infect mice differs only 7% from
COVID-19. (Wikipedia, “SHC014-CoV”)
That worked for mice. They then tested the virus on cloned surface cells of the human airway
and that showed vigorous infection. The final test was on actual cultures of the cells lining the
human airway and found robust infection and replication of the virus. “Together, the data
confirm the ability of viruses with the SHC014 spike to infect human airway cells and
underscore the potential threat of cross-species transmission of SHC014 CoV.” (Menachery,
Yount, Debbink, et al; emphasis mine.)
I added italics to the previous quotation to exemplify how this report is peppered with
propaganda implying that this study was performed for peaceful purposes. The “potential threat
of cross-species transmission” that this study allegedly underscores refers to humans catching
this disease directly from bats or from an intermediary species that became infected by bats.
Their first experiment showed no such threat exists. It was only after they had tinkered with the
virus and created a very infectious hybrid that they could hypothesize a threat – implying that if
it can be done in a laboratory it might mutate naturally. That is the rationale used to justify
creating biological warfare weapons.
The disease caused by the SHC014-MA15 novel spike was very infectious and very contagious.
“However, further testing in nonhuman primates is required to translate these findings into
pathogenic potential for humans.” The report then points out that further testing “must be
considered in the context of the US Government-mandated pause on gain-of-function (GOF)
studies. … scientific review panels may deem similar studies building chimeric viruses based on
circulating strains too risky to pursue, as increased pathogenicity in mammalian models cannot
be excluded. (Menachery, Yount, Debbink, et al) It goes on:
Together these data and restrictions represent a crossroads of GOF research concerns; the potential
to prepare for and mitigate future outbreaks must be weighed against the risk of creating more
dangerous pathogens. In developing policies moving forward, it is important to consider the value
of the data generated by these studies and whether these types of chimeric virus studies warrant
further investigation versus the inherent risks involved. (Menachery, Yount, Debbink, et al)
This experiment was started prior to the pause in GOF studies and was allowed to continue.

3
According to the Center for Veterinary Biologics, a chimera virus is a “new hybrid microorganism created by
joining nucleic acid fragments from two or more different microorganisms in which each of at least two of the
fragments contain essential genes necessary for replication." (Wikipedia, “Chimera (virus)”)
4
‘MA’ stands for ‘Mouse Adapted.’

5
According to Boyle:
Grants were also given by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [NIAID]
whose director at the time, and still today, is Toni Fauci. Boyle accuses Fauci of lying about the
nature of COVID-19, covering up and doing damage control, adding “that about 95% of this,
NAZI-type, hideous bio-warfare work is approved and funded by Fauci.” (Bianco)
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s NIAID “funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other
institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses. In 2019 [NIAID]
committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included gain-of-function work. The
program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat
coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million.” (Guterl)
Fauci is now the infectious disease expert on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, advising
the President.
It appears to me that when the experimenters recognized what their GOF experiments had
created, they wanted a government review to authorize the continuing studies that would confirm
what they had already done.
This is the dangerous chimeric virus Chinese scientists took back to their BSL-4 lab in Wuhan.

HIV and the Australian Connection.

Francis Boyle said: “Wuhan was working with an institute in Australia to DNA genetically
engineer a super bioweapon involving SARS and HIV. ... And apparently it was successful. So
as far as I can tell … the Australian government knew all about this. And it says this work was
jointly funded by the State Key Program for Basic Research Grants from the Chinese Ministry of
Science, Technology and the Knowledge [and the] Australian Animal Health Laboratory in
Australia. So as far as I can figure out … the Wuhan scientists took the North Carolina SARS
with gain of function, which is already a biological warfare weapon, and they took the
technology here behind this well-developed SARS HIV weapon and they … tried to DNA
genetically engineer it into a chimera, into a biological warfare weapon involving the
coronavirus, the HIV virus and gain of function.” (Adams)
Five scientists from China’s WIV joined another from University of Minnesota Medical School
and two from Australia at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory; to study “ACE2 molecules
from seven additional bat species and tested their interactions with human [-infectious] SARS-
CoV spike protein using both HIV-based pseudotype and live SARS-CoV infection assays.” The
infection assays were performed with “HIV-1 luciferase pseudotype virus carrying the SARS-
CoV BJ01 [spine] protein …” Then “the HIV/BJ01-S pseudovirus system was used to infect
HeLa5 cells transiently expressing bat ACE2 or human ACE2 genes.” (Hou, Peng, Yu, et al)
In early 2020 scientists in India examined the COVID-19 virus. Their report reads: “We found 4
insertions in the spike glycoprotein which are unique to the 2019-nCoV [COVID-19] and are not
present in other coronaviruses. Importantly, amino acid residues in all the 4 inserts have identity
or similarity to those of the HIV-1 gp120 or HIV-1 Gag … The finding of 4 unique inserts in the
2019-nCoV, all of which have identity/similarity to amino acid residues in key structural proteins

5
HeLa is an immortal cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest and most commonly used human cell
line. (Wikipedia, “HeLa”)

6
of HIV-1 is unlikely to be fortuitous in nature.” (GreatGameIndia-2) “Unlikely to be fortuitous
in nature” means the phenomenon is unlikely to occur naturally.
The scientist-authors of the report, apparently as part of the cover-up saying: “It was not our
intention to feed into the conspiracy theories …” (GreatGameIndia-2) Nevertheless, the study
was made and the facts are there. It is not possible to rewrite history.

Conclusion.
The Wuhan bats with the SARS-like virus and a novel spike protein are no threat to humans.
That was proven by the first experiment in the UNC lab in Chapel Hill. Nevertheless, scientists
persisted in making a chimera that was extremely lethal. This was done with the purported
justification that they were working on a vaccine and cure for a disease that doesn’t exist.
An independent study of COVID-19 by French and Canadian scientists discovered a novel spike
protein which had a “peculiar furin-like cleavage” not found in any other beta coronaviruses. All
coronaviruses that infect humans are from the beta group.
An early 2020 study by Indian scientists found 4 insertions in the spike glycoprotein of COVID-
19 that are not present in other coronaviruses. Amino acid residues in all four are identical or
similar to those of HIV-1 gp120 or HIV-1 Gag. This finding, according to the scientists, is not
something that would occur naturally.
“Professor Boyle’s interpretation … is the Wuhan scientists took these viruses from North
Carolina and Australia back to the BSL-4 in Wuhan and tried to genetically engineer it all
together as a potent biological warfare weapon. This would be a combination of SARS which is
already a weaponized corona virus add to that GOF properties and HIV.” (Bianco)
I agree. But now the US and the WHO are striving hard to cover up the cause of this holocaust.
The Indian scientists, possible as part of the cover-up, withdrew their report, saying “It was not
our intention to feed into the conspiracy theories …” (GreatGameIndia-2)
Nevertheless, the study was made and the facts are there. It is not possible to rewrite history.
Now we have a pandemic with a virus specifically created to resist vaccines, and laced with HIV
to offset the human body’s natural immune system. These atrocities were committed under the
guise of peaceful research justified by an ethical decision that the benefits (read profits) outweigh
the risks.
In this paper I have presented evidence that the origin of COVID-19 was in a laboratory; and not
the product of natural mutation. That is the only logical conclusion when weighing the facts of
GOF research, creating chimera, novel spike protein with peculiar furin-like cleavage sites, HIV
insertions, and the unlikely chance of these phenomena occurring naturally.
#####

References.

Adams, Mike; “Full Transcript of ‘Smoking Gun’ Bombshell Interview: Prof. Francis Boyle Exposes the Biowapons
Origins of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.” (Natural News, 21 February 2020). Available at
https://www.infowars.com/full-transcript-of-smoking-gun-bombshell-interview-prof-frances-boyle-
exposes-the-bioweapons-origins-of-the-covid-19-coronavirus/

7
AssayGenie; “How Furin and ASC2 Interact with the Spike Protein on SARS-CoV-2.” Available at
https://www.assaygenie.com/how-furin-and-ace2-interact-with-the-spike-on-sarscov2.
Bianco, Peter; “Is the Recent Corona Virus, COVID-19, a Biiological Weapon?” (Utica Phoenix, 24 March 2020.
At https://www.uticaphoenix.net/2020/03/24/is-the-recent-corona-virus-covid-19-a-biological-weapon/
Butler, Declan; “Engineered Bat Virus Stirs Debate Over Risky Research,” (Nature, 12 November 2015).
BWC – Biological Weapons Convention of the United Nations Security Council which entered into force on 26
March 1975.
Collins, Francis S.; “NIH Lifts Funding Pause on Gain-of-Function Research,” (National Institute of Health Pres
Release, 19 November 2017).
Coutard, B.; Valle, C.; de Lamballerie, X.; Canard, B.; Seidah, N.G.; and Decroly, E.; “The Spike Glycoprotein of
the New Coronavirus 2019-nCoV Contains a Furin-Like Cleavage Sit Absent in CoV of the Same Clade,”
(Antiviral Research, Vol. 176, April 2020). Available at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354220300528#fig1.
GreatGameIndia-1; “Transcript: Bioweapons Expert Dr. Francis Boyle on Coronavirus,” (GreatGameIndia, 5
February 2020, modified 22 March 2020) At https://greatgameindia.com/transcript-bioweapons-expert-dr-
francis-boyle-on-coronavirus/
GreatGame India-2; “Uncanny Similarity of Unique Inserts in the 2019-nCoV Spike Protein to HIV-1 gp120 and
Gag,” (GreatGame India, 1 February 2020, modified 27 February 2020. Available at
https://greatgameindia.com/uncanny-similarity-of-unique-inserts-in-the-2019-ncov-spike-protein-to-hiv-1-
gp120-and-gag/
Gutterl, Fred; “Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab With Millions of US Dollars for Risky Coronavirus
Research,” (Newsweek, 30 April 2020 print, 28 April 2020 on-line). At https://www.newsweek.com/dr-
fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-millions-us-dollars-risky-coronavirus-research-1500741
Harrison, Cary; “Man-Made in Labs from North Carolina to Australis (Chimera of HIV and SARS,”
(Coronalert.org, undated). At https://coronalert.org/francis-boyle-coronavirus/.
Hou, Y,; Peng, C.; Yu, M.; et al; “Angiotension-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) Proteins of Different Gat Species
Confr Variable Susceptibility to SARS-CoV Entry,” (Arch Virol, Vol. 155, pp. 1563-1569, 2010). At
https://www.msi.umn.edu/~lifang/otherflpapers/bat-ace2-archivesofvirology-2010.pdf
Jiang, Shibo; He, Yuxian; and Liu, Shuwen; “SARS Vaccine Development,” (Emerging Infectious Diseases, July
2005, pp. 1016-1020). Also available on CDC website at wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/7/05-0219_article
Kaiser, Jocelyn; “NIH Lifts 3-Year Ban on Fundin Risky Virus Studies,” (Science Magazine, 19 December 2017).
At https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/12/nih-lifts-3-year-ban-funding-risky-virus-studies.
Kruse, Michael; “If We Beat Covid and He Wins Reelection, So Be It,” (Politico Magazine, 17 April 2020).
http://politico.com/news/mag-azine/2020/04/17/interview-max-rose-covid-193258?cid=apn
Menachery, V.; Yount, B.;Debbink, K.; et al.; “A SARS-Like Cluster of Circulating Bat Coronaviruses Shows
Potential for Human Emergence. (Nature Medicine, Vol. 21, pp. 1508–1513, 9 Nov. 2015). Available at
https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3985
Rapoza, Kenneth; “China Lab in Focus of Coronavirus Outbreak,” (Forbes, 14 April 2020). Available at
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2020/04/14/the-washington-post-goes-rogue-china-lab-in-focus-
of-coronavirus-outbreak/#326c5e931ee1
Ross, Sherwood; “Boyle Charges US Germ Warfare Program is ‘Criminal Enterprise’,” 11 October 2015. Copy
available at https://worldbeyondwar.org/boyle-charges-u-s-germ-warfare-program-is-criminal-enterprise/
Sandolu, Ans; “Why Does SARS-CoV-2 spread so easily?” (Medical News Today, 17 March 2020). Available at
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/why-does-sars-cov-2-spread-so-easily.
Selgelid, Michael J.; “Gain-of-Function Research: Ethical Analysis,” (Science and Engineering Ethics Vol. 22,
pp. 923–964, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-016-9810-1

8
VT Editors; “COVID-19, Created in North Carolina for Bio-Warfare, Paid for by the CIA and Trump Blames
China,”(Niki’s Opinion Forum, 24 March 2020). Available at
https://orwell1984366490226.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/covid-19-created-in-north-carolina-for-bio-
warfare-paid-for-by-the-cia-and-trump-blames-china/
Wikipedia, “2002-2004 SARS Outbreak.”
Wikipedia, “Chimera (virus).”
Wikipedia, “HeL”
Wikipedia, “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.”
Wikipedia, “SHC014-CoV.”

Glossary.
ACE2 - Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
BSL – Biologic Safety Level Biologic laboratories are classified BSL-1 through BSL-4
BWC - Biological Weapons Convention
Chimeric - A new hybrid microorganism created by joining nucleic acid fragments from two or more
different microorganisms
CDC – Center for Disease Control
CIA. - Central Intelligence Agency
CoV - Coronavirus
COVID-19 - Coronavirus Disease 2019
GOF - Gain of Function
HeLa - an immortal cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest and most commonly used human cell
line. (Wikipedia, “HeLa”)
HHS – Health and Human Services (Cabinet Department)
HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus; the virus tht causes Acquires Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
P3CO - Potential Pandemic Pathogen Care and Oversight
MA – Mouse Adapted
MERS - Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
NIAID - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIH - National Institute of Health
SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
SHC014 – A SARS-like virus found in Horseshoe Bats near Wuhan, China.
UNC - University of North Carolina
WHO – World Health Organization
WIV - Wuhan Institute of Virology