On The Origin Of The Home Of COVID-19

And Now For Some Breaking News

I. Deja Voodoo All Over Again

This post begins a new Dredd Blog series based upon what I suspect is "the industry" response to two previous Dredd Blog posts (On The Origin of the Genes of Viruses - 14, If Cosmology Is "Off," How Can Biology Be "On?" - 2).

The industry response which I suspect is: Why it’s wrong to blame livestock farms for coronavirus.

This is not the first time that "the industry" (MOMCOM) has responded to Dredd Blog posts (Oil-Qaeda & MOMCOM Conspire To Commit Depraved-Heart Murder- 6).

No, not the first time, but it is the same type of response.

The "type of response" I am writing about is diversion and deceit, without any discussion of the gravamen of the situation.

The gravamen of the situation is, in our modern time, where did Covid-19 originate?

I already have written about the general origin of viruses and their genes (On the Origin of the Genes of Viruses, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13; The Uncertain Gene, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11).

This series will be about this specific type of virus, not the general population of viruses ("The principal driver of zoonotic diseases (such as the virus Sars-Cov-2, which spread from animals to humans) is industrial animal agriculture."

In this series I will keep in mind that there are far more viruses than there are stars in the visible universe (The Real Dangers With Microbes & Viruses).

So, we have now narrowed the search for an origin, limiting it to a search for the home (host) of the Covid-19 virus (like the title of this series indicates).

II. My Complaint

The venerable American Society for Microbiology (ASM),  an esteemed realm of cognition, expects a lot from our youth.

I say that because the following is what they expect "K-4" (kindergarten thru fourth grade) to contemplate:

"This lesson introduces students to the microbial world and provides insight on the function of microbes by examining bacteria that both help and harm cows. Although multiple bacteria inhabit the cow’s rumen, this lesson focuses on two harmless microbes, Ruminococcus and Selenomonas, which break down cellulose and starch in plant matter, respectively. These bacteria obtain nutrients from the cow’s diet, and the cow gains energy from the products of bacterial metabolism. Therefore, these bacterial species are in a symbiotic relationship with the cow. Other bacterial species can harm cows. Such is the case with Escherichia coli, a non-ruminant bacterium that can cause the udder infection known as mastitis."

(Lesson Plan, Grades K-4, Bacteria That Help and Hurt Cows, emphasis added). I suspect that Dredd Blog readers did not get that lesson presented to them during their K-4 elementary schooling (I certainly didn't).

It doesn't stop there:

"The microbes inhabiting the rumen convert low-quality, fibrous, plant material into useable energy for the host ruminant. Consisting of bacteria, protozoa, fungi, archaea, and viruses, the rumen microbiome composes a sophisticated network of symbiosis essential to maintenance, immune function, and over-all production efficiency of the host ruminant."

(Rumen Microbes In Livestock Production, emphasis added). For those, like me, that did not get tested on "rumen" in grades K-4:  (Medical Definition of rumen : the large first compartment of the stomach of a ruminant from which food is regurgitated for rumination and in which cellulose is broken down by the action of symbiotic microorganisms.)

Anyway, what could go wrong in the rumen? ... good question ... good answer:

"To meet this demand [commercialization / population growth], there are several approaches being in force like antibiotic / antimicrobial / hormonal growth promotors. But these methods also lead to major public health concerns ranging from residues to antimicrobial resistance in human population ... It is a well-known fact that microbiota plays a pivotal role in the gastrointestinal health in ruminant and nonruminant animals."

(Effective Role of Microorganisms in Livestock Development, emphasis added). What could go wrong and has gone wrong is answered by a look at pandemics (The Real Dangers With Microbes & Viruses).

Some of those in "the industry" have found out what could go wrong and has gone wrong:

"For generations, farmers have used antibiotics to improve production of their chicken, pig, and cattle operations. With use of certain antibiotics on the chopping block because of concerns about the rise of resistant organisms, some are turning from anti to pro—probiotics, that is.

Probiotics, live microorganisms that are a staple of the human wellness industry, have the potential to fulfill many of the roles that antibiotics play down on the farm. Research suggests probiotics can help chickens, pigs, and cows quickly put on weight, efficiently digest feed, and withstand the infectious organisms that tend to lurk wherever animals are kept in close quarters ... But farmers have several ways to raise healthy livestock without relying on antibiotics."

(Boosting Farm Animal Health, emphasis added). Why would there be a change after generations of use ... "major public health concerns" ... pandemics?

III. The Accusations

In the accusations set forth in "Why it’s wrong to blame livestock farms for coronavirus" linked to in Section I above, the author of that paper did not mention that she is of the Mansanto persuasion:

"Alison Van Eenennaam, PhD, a cooperative extension specialist in animal genomics and biotechnology at the University of California, Davis, is a leading promoter of genetically engineered animals, crops and the pesticides that accompany them, and an advocate for deregulation. Dr. Van Eenennaam argues GE animals should not be subject to pre-market safety reviews or labels. Dr. Van Eenennaam is a former Monsanto employee [(Wayback Machine Doc)] who opposes requiring safety studies for genetically engineered animals ..."

(USRTK US Right To Know, emphasis added). The "Mansanto persuasion" is to kill any and all microbes that move or exist, it is "anti-" not "pro"- biotics (living things).

IV. The Myths

The news media rightly points out:

"Let’s start at the beginning. As of 17 March, we know that the Sars-CoV-2 virus (a member of the coronavirus family that causes the respiratory illness Covid-19) is the product of natural evolution. A study of its genetic sequence, conducted by infectious disease expert Kristian G Andersen of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and colleagues, rules out the possibility that it could have been manufactured in a lab or otherwise engineered. Puff go the conspiracy theories.

... 

The principal driver of zoonotic diseases (such as the virus Sars-Cov-2, which spread from animals to humans) is industrial animal agriculture"

(The Covid-19 pandemic shows we must transform the global food system, emphasis addid). That is not quite the beginning, but good enough for gummit work.

But, in the next sentences they jump off track:

"The next step is a little less certain, but it seems likely that the original animal reservoir for the virus was bats. Andersen’s team showed – like the Chinese before them –that the sequence of Sars-CoV-2 is similar to other coronaviruses that infect bats."

(ibid).  Non-microscopic biological entities, "animals" (e.g. bats), are not the host of viruses, contrary to ubiquitous media commentaries (Amazon could be next virus hot zone: scientist).

While the host of Covid-19 is evidently not specifically known, the type of 'animal' is known: microbes (the video at the end of this post will tell you a lot about microbes ... watch it all and it will WOW you).

Microbes, as taught in grades K-4 (according to the ASM quote above in Section II) are for the most part mutualists with their host mammals, including humans.

Those microbes host viruses that are mutualists to them, and by extension are mutualists to the animals they are in, 'human animals' too.

A mutualist virus does not "infect" either its immediate host or meta host.

Instead, they are symbionts to both their immediate (microbe) host and meta host (animal).

When the symbiotic relationship is destroyed by antibiotics and other toxins, the host microbe and its reproductive machinery that reproduce the virus as the microbe reproduces itself, are impacted.

The symbiotic relationship is destroyed, and enmity replaces it (It's time to shut down industrial animal farming).

V. Closing Comments

In the next post of this series we will explore the rehabilitation of the enmity relationship back into a symbiotic relationship.

Just below is a repeat of a previous Dredd Blog post that is about seven years old  (How Microbes Communicate In The Tiniest Language) so that you can get in touch with your inner and outer symbionts:

---

Microbes

Video Index (time - subject)
00:21 - microbes are oldest life forms on Earth
01:03 - 10 times more microbes than human cells in us
01:31 - 100 times more microbial genes than human genes in us
02:00 - microbes are 99% of our make-up; they keep us alive
02:20 - microbes are vital for keeping us alive and healthy
04:20 - microbes talk with a molecular language
07:50 - quorum sensing (like a census) to know population count
08:20 - Intra species communication (shape of words) dialects
10:50 - microbes communicate with other microbes (multi-lingual)
11:20 - they take a census of all other microbes around them
12:30 - synthetic molecules-words interrupt communication
13:50 - synthetic molecules-words confuse the microbes
15:00 - they have collective, community behaviors
15:20 - microbes made the rules for multi-cellular development
16:00 - microbes invented multi-cellular behavior inside us
17:15 - the team

---

Dr. Bonnie L. Bassler, Princeton University:

---

Professor who studies "social intelligence" of microbial entities gives lecture:

---

The next post in this series is here.