5 ms·

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

103 points by FeaturelessBug 3y ago

jbirer 3y ago
Don't forget that it also contained modified SARS virus.
rolandog 3y ago
To quote Steve Gibson: "What could possibly go wrong?"
- farkanoid 3y ago
  Haven't seen that name in a while! I have fond memories of both Spinrite and ShieldsUp
  - rolandog 3y ago
    I can sense you're a sage from the online realms where squirrels with prodigious love nuggets were revered.
andrewstuart 3y ago
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…..
- treeman79 3y ago
  [flagged]
upsidesinclude 3y ago
This should be really bigger news. Seperate news reports include claims that the company was "developing COVID19 tests" among other things. This could very well have been funded through pandemic relief grants. The owners of the building claim no knowledge of the goings on there. Clearly they were engaged in some nefarious work with extremely minimal safety protocol.
AequitasOmnibus 3y ago
> 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 biolab was found on a fluke. How many more covert biolabs is China operating in secret in the U.S.?
- whimsicalism 3y ago
  > How many more covert biolabs is China operating in secret in the U.S.? Is the company even Chinese?
  - BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
    > Is the company even Chinese? Seems like yes but with a shady trail of dark corners. > 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.
- tomjen3 3y ago
  [flagged]
- topato 3y ago
  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
- Paul-Craft 3y ago
  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.
whimsicalism 3y ago
Does anyone have reporting from a higher quality source?
- DANmode 3y ago
  Previously on HN: CDC detects coronavirus, HIV, hepatitis and herpes at unlicensed California lab https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36921530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36921530 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresno-warehouse-was-site-illegal-laboratory-rcna96756 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresn...
  - tinus_hn 3y ago
    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.
    - newaccount74 3y ago
      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...
brucethemoose2 3y ago
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.
- tyingq 3y ago
  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-meditech.com/products https://web.archive.org/web/20190731163304/http://universal-...
- sct202 3y ago
  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-alerts/universal-meditech-inc-issues-nationwide-recall-skippack-medical-lab-sars-cov-2-antigen-rapid-test https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety...
seatac76 3y ago
This is the stuff of horror movies, so much can go wrong. How are they even able to acquire such material without some oversight?
user6723 3y ago
[flagged]
- thegreenswede 3y ago
  Explain?
  - mickelsen 3y ago
    OP's probably being ironic.
    - thegreenswede 3y ago
      I know people personally who'd say something like that unironically so was hoping I'd be able to pick that type of person's brain
      - user6723 3y ago
        See r/k selection theory on https://www.anonymousconservative.com https://www.anonymousconservative.com ; the "it's a conspiracy, sweety" mentality is pure R psychology
aaron695 3y ago
[dead]

jbirer 3y ago

Don't forget that it also contained modified SARS virus.

rolandog 3y ago

To quote Steve Gibson: "What could possibly go wrong?"

farkanoid 3y ago
Haven't seen that name in a while! I have fond memories of both Spinrite and ShieldsUp
- rolandog 3y ago
  I can sense you're a sage from the online realms where squirrels with prodigious love nuggets were revered.

andrewstuart 3y ago

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…..

treeman79 3y ago
[flagged]

upsidesinclude 3y ago

This should be really bigger news. Seperate news reports include claims that the company was "developing COVID19 tests" among other things. This could very well have been funded through pandemic relief grants. The owners of the building claim no knowledge of the goings on there. Clearly they were engaged in some nefarious work with extremely minimal safety protocol.

AequitasOmnibus 3y ago

> 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 biolab was found on a fluke. How many more covert biolabs is China operating in secret in the U.S.?

whimsicalism 3y ago
> How many more covert biolabs is China operating in secret in the U.S.? Is the company even Chinese?
- BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
  > Is the company even Chinese? Seems like yes but with a shady trail of dark corners. > 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.
tomjen3 3y ago
[flagged]
topato 3y ago
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
Paul-Craft 3y ago
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.

whimsicalism 3y ago

Does anyone have reporting from a higher quality source?

DANmode 3y ago
Previously on HN: CDC detects coronavirus, HIV, hepatitis and herpes at unlicensed California lab https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36921530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36921530 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresno-warehouse-was-site-illegal-laboratory-rcna96756 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresn...
- tinus_hn 3y ago
  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.
  - newaccount74 3y ago
    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...

brucethemoose2 3y ago

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.

tyingq 3y ago
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-meditech.com/products https://web.archive.org/web/20190731163304/http://universal-...
sct202 3y ago
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-alerts/universal-meditech-inc-issues-nationwide-recall-skippack-medical-lab-sars-cov-2-antigen-rapid-test https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety...

seatac76 3y ago

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

user6723 3y ago

[flagged]

thegreenswede 3y ago
Explain?
- mickelsen 3y ago
  OP's probably being ironic.
  - thegreenswede 3y ago
    I know people personally who'd say something like that unironically so was hoping I'd be able to pick that type of person's brain
    - user6723 3y ago
      See r/k selection theory on https://www.anonymousconservative.com https://www.anonymousconservative.com ; the "it's a conspiracy, sweety" mentality is pure R psychology

aaron695 3y ago

[dead]