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Li-Meng Yan

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Li-Meng Yan
Born1983 or 1984 (age 39–40)[1]
EducationCentral South University (Xiangya Medical College) MD[2] or master's degree[3]
Southern Medical University PhD in ophthalmology[3]
Medical career
ProfessionPost-Doctoral Researcher
FieldMedicine
InstitutionsUniversity of Hong Kong School of Public Health
Sub-specialtiesImmunology
ResearchInfluenza vaccine, Cell-mediated immunity

Template:Chinese name Li-Meng Yan (simplified Chinese: 闫丽梦; traditional Chinese: 閆麗夢) or Yan Limeng, is a Chinese ophthalmologist and virologist who claims as part of her work to have been aware of person to person transmission of COVID-19 in late December 2019 and to have tried to communicate the risks to those higher up the chain of command in January 2020. She alleges that the Chinese government and the World Health Organization (WHO) knew about the person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 earlier than they reported or made public, and suppressed both her research and others.[4]

In April 2020, she fled to the United States where, in September 2020, she co-authored a widely-disputed pre-print research paper alleging that SARS-CoV-2 was made in a Chinese government laboratory.[5] The paper has since been pre-print reviewed by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Health Security as "offers contradictory and inaccurate information that does not support their argument"Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[3] and sources differ on whether beforehand she received an MD degree[2] or a master's degree in ophthalmology[3] from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University. Her research includes the study of The inhibition effect of propranolol on the corneal neovascularization in an alkali-induced injury mouse model[6] and the challenges in developing a universal influenza vaccine.[7]

Transmission of COVID-19

Yan said that she was one of the first scientists in the world to study the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, after Leo Poon, her supervisor at the University of Hong Kong (a WHO reference lab), asked her to look into a cluster of SARS-like cases in Wuhan, in December 2019.[8] According to Fox News, Yan maintained an extensive network of medical professionals from mainland China, one of whom purportedly told Yan about human-to-human transmission of the novel disease on 31 December 2019.[8] According to Yan, she reported her findings about the virus multiple times to her superiors, including on 16 January, after which she says she was warned by her supervisor "to keep silent and be careful."[8]

Before the Chinese government publicly said it knew of human-to-human transmission, in a January 2020 interview[failed verification] with "LuDe Media" (「路德社」), owned by Guo Wengui,[4] Yan accused the Chinese government of knowing about this aspect of the novel coronavirus.[8][9] She fled to the United States on 28 April with what she said was her intention of delivering "the message of the truth of COVID," adding if she tried to tell her story in China, she said that she would be "disappeared and killed."[8][9][10]

Between July and August, Yan was interviewed by Fox News, Newsmax TV,[11] and the Daily Mail.[1] In July, Yan said that she and her colleagues had an obligation to tell the world of their research[12] given their status as a WHO reference laboratory.[9] She also accused her supervisors, including Leo Poon and Malik Peiris, of ignoring her research.[8][9]

In July 2020, a press release from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) stated:

HKU notes that the content of the said news report does not accord with the key facts as we understand them. Specifically, Dr Yan never conducted any research on human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus at HKU during December 2019 and January 2020, her central assertion of the said interview. We further observe that what she might have emphasised in the reported interview has no scientific basis but resembles hearsay.[13]

HKU's press release did not mention when and why Yan left HKU.[10] According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the director of HKU's School of Public Health, Keiji Fukuda, said in an internal memo to staff that none of the researchers named by Yan were involved in any cover-up or "secret research".[10]

Published research

Yan co-authored a three-paragraph-long paper entitled "Viral dynamics in mild and severe cases of COVID-19", published in The Lancet in March 2020, regarding the viral shedding patterns observed in COVID-19 patients. Four of the nine co-authors were from HKU and the remaining five were from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University.[14]

She also co-authored "Pathogenesis and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in golden hamsters", published in Nature in May 2020 regarding transmission of the virus in hamsters. This paper was also co-authored by her now-former colleagues at HKU. The abstract of the paper states that SARS-CoV-2 has a "high nucleotide identity" to SARS-related coronaviruses detected in horseshoe bats.[15]

Paper on origins of SARS-CoV-2

In September 2020, Yan co-authored a pre-print research paper named "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route."[16] Three other researchers were listed as co-authors, but the SCMP was unable to find any prior work from them.[17] The paper was uploaded to the Zenodo website, an open-access repository where anyone can post their research.[18] The paper is affiliated with the Rule of Law Society, founded by Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui.[1][16][18] The Rule of Law Society, described by Snopes as a political organisation, had not previously published scientific or medical research.[18][19] Yan had previously appeared on Bannon's "War Room" podcast.[17][18]

According to the paper's abstract, "SARS-CoV-2 shows biological characteristics that are inconsistent with a naturally occurring, zoonotic virus" and it could have been created in a lab in approximately six months.[20][21] As of September 21, 2020, the paper has not been submitted to a scientific peer-reviewed publication.[22]

Concerning its central claim, a September 21 review of the pre-print by four authors from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said,

Yan et al refer to an extensive scientific literature providing "genomic, structural, and literature evidence" to counter the prevailing theory in the scientific community that the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is a natural zoonosis, emerging from animals, but they do not cite any references to support their claim—a crucial basic practice for any researcher.[22]

As of early October, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) project called Rapid Reviews: Covid-19 (RR:C19), which seeks out preprint papers and reviews them in an attempt to "prevent the dissemination of false or misleading scientific news"[23] although it is "not traditional peer review"[24] has issued four evaluations of Yan's preprint. All four reviewers rated the preprint as "Misleading" on the project's "Strength of Evidence Scale," the lowest-strength rating which is accompanied by the statement "Serious flaws and errors in the methods and data render the study conclusions misinformative. The results and conclusions of the ideal study are at least as likely to conclude the opposite of its results and conclusions than agree. Decision-makers should not consider this evidence in any decision."[25][26][27][28]

Reviewers for the MIT Rapid Reviews: Covid-19 project who analyzed Yan's study issued the following statement jointly:

Given the far-reaching implications of the "Yan Report," RR:C19 sought out peer reviews from world-renowned experts in virology, molecular biology, structural biology, computational biology, vaccine development, and medicine. Collectively, reviewers have debunked the authors' claims that: ⑴ bat coronaviruses ZC45 or ZXC21 were used as a background strain to engineer SARS-CoV-2, ⑵ the presence of restriction sites flanking the RBD suggest prior screening for a virus targeting the human ACE2 receptor, and ⑶ the furin-like cleavage site is unnatural and provides evidence of engineering. In all three cases, the reviewers provide counter-arguments based on peer-reviewed literature and long-established foundational knowledge that directly refute the claims put forth by Yan et al. There was a general consensus that the study's claims were better explained by potential political motivations rather than scientific integrity. The peer reviewers arrived at these common opinions independently, further strengthening the credibility of the peer reviews.[29]

According to Newsweek, several experts in evolutionary biology and infectious disease, including Jonathan Eisen and Carl Bergstrom, said the paper did not include new information, contained multiple unsubstantiated claims and had a weak scientific case.[16] Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University, said the paper was "basically all circumstantial and some of it is entirely fictional".[18] For example the paper asserts that SARS-CoV-2 has a "unique" furin cleavage site in its protein structure "completely absent in this particular class of coronaviruses found in nature"; however Rasmussen says that many coronaviruses, including the 2012 MERS coronavirus, have these sites and that hence "This proves exactly nothing."[1][20] Andrew Preston, a biologist at the University of Bath, said the “preprint report cannot be given any credibility in its current form”.[19]

Yan's paper also stated that two strains of bat coronaviruses discovered in China, ZC45 and ZXC21, were "suspiciously" similar to SARS-CoV-2 and these strains could have been used as a template for a deadlier virus.[5] The two strains differed by approximately 3,500 nucleotide base pairs.[5] Several virologists, including Rasmussen, said it would be either inefficient or impossible to engineer a virus where 10% of its genome would have to be replaced.[5] Craig Wilen, at the Yale School of Medicine, said that this kind of genome selection is nearly impossible.[19]

In addition to citing many other unpublished pre-print papers, Yan's September 2020 pre-print cited online blogs and obscure web sites named "GM Watch" and "Nerd Has Power".[30] Immunologist Kristian G. Andersen, a specialist in communicable diseases and genomics who was one author of a March 2020 journal article in Nature Medicine entitled "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2" which definitively stated the virus was not created in a lab,[31] and Yujia Alina Chan, a postdoctoral researcher, both said the paper left out recent data related to coronavirus in pangolins and bats.[30] Andersen further characterized the paper's prose with the statement: "It's using technical language that is impossible to decode for non-experts - poppycock dressed up as 'science'."[30]

After describing her newly published research paper in a Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson in mid-September 2020, Yan said she believed the Chinese government intentionally released the virus.[32] Instagram and Facebook flagged posts of the interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight as false information about COVID-19, saying that they repeated information “that multiple independent fact checkers say is false.”[33] PolitiFact said her statement on Carlson's show, that SARS-CoV-2 was created in a lab, was "inaccurate and ridiculous" and gave their strongest rating of "Pants on Fire".[34]

On 15 September 2020, Yan's Twitter account was suspended, although the reason for the suspension was unclear. She had only four visible posts, one of which linked to the preprint paper.[35] In an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Yan said she was suspended because "they don't want the people to know this truth".[36][37] According to Yan, the Chinese Communist Party and the world's scientific community collaborated to hide the truth behind SARS-CoV-2.[38]

Yan argued in her October 2020 paper "SARS-CoV-2 Is an Unrestricted Bioweapon: A Truth Revealed through Uncovering a Large-Scale, Organized Scientific Fraud" that COVID-19 is a bio-weapon made by military research laboratories under the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government.[39][40][unreliable source?]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ward, Alex (September 18, 2020). "The bogus Steve Bannon-backed study claiming China created the coronavirus, explained". Vox. Vox Media. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; September 19, 2020 suggested (help)
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference CNNid was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d 郭, 嘉, ed. (September 19, 2020). 港大前研究員污衊中國 班農為幕後黑手炮製病毒人造論與美右翼反華媒體唱雙簧 (PDF). 國際. Ta Kung Pao 大公報 (in Chinese). No. 42052. p. A24. OCLC 222546985. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020. 閆麗夢出生於山東省青島市, 分別在中南大學和南方醫科大學獲得眼科碩士, 博士學位, 後前往香港大學作為博士後研究員, 主要從事疫苗, 抗體和細胞免疫學研究。
  4. ^ a b "闫丽梦爆料 李文亮第二？港大回应" (in Chinese). Deutsche Welle Chinese Network. July 12, 2020. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d Brouillette, Monique; Renner, Rebecca (September 18, 2020). "Why misinformation about COVID-19's origins keeps going viral: Another piece of coronavirus misinformation is making the rounds. Here's how to sift through the muck". National Geographic.
  6. ^ "普萘洛尔对小鼠角膜碱烧伤模型中新生血管抑制作用的实验研究". Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  7. ^ Valkenburg SA, Leung NH, Bull MB, Yan LM, Li AP, Poon LL, et al. (2018). "The Hurdles From Bench to Bedside in the Realization and Implementation of a Universal Influenza Vaccine". Front Immunol. 9: 1479. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2018.01479. PMC 6036122. PMID 30013557. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
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  11. ^ 許懿安 (August 15, 2020). "美媒訪港大前研究員閆麗夢　稱2種病毒改造而成　沒提出實質證據". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  12. ^ Chakraborty, Barnini. "Chinese virologist accuses Beijing of coronavirus cover-up, flees Hong Kong: 'I know how they treat whistleblowers'". Fox News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020. She adds that they likely had an obligation to tell the world, given their status as a World Health Organization reference laboratory specializing in influenza viruses and pandemics, especially as the virus began spreading in the early days of 2020.
  13. ^ "HKU responds to the media concerning a former staff member's TV interview". University of Hong Kong. July 11, 2020. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  14. ^ Liu, Yang; Yan, Li-Meng; Wan, Lagen; Xiang, Tian-Xin; Le, Aiping; Liu, Jia-Ming; Peiris, Malik; Poon, Leo L. M.; Zhang, Wei (June 2020). "Viral dynamics in mild and severe cases of COVID-19". The Lancet. Infectious Diseases. 20 (6): 656–657. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30232-2. ISSN 1474-4457. PMC 7158902. PMID 32199493. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  15. ^ "(PDF) Pathogenesis and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in golden hamsters". Nature. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  16. ^ a b c G, Kashmira (September 15, 2020). "Fact-check: Does a new study give evidence that the coronavirus was made in a lab?". Newsweek. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  17. ^ a b Baptista, Eduardo (September 16, 2020) "‘Artificial coronavirus’ study linked to Steve Bannon and Chinese fugitive Guo Wengui" Archived September 16, 2020, at the Wayback Machine South China Morning Post.
  18. ^ a b c d e "Steve Bannon Is Behind Bogus Study That China Created COVID". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  19. ^ a b c Dapcevich, Madison (September 21, 2020). "Did Chinese Virologist Dr. Li-Meng Yan Say COVID-19 Was Made in a Wuhan Lab?". Snopes. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Yan, Li-Meng; Kang, Shu; Guan, Jie; Hu, Shanchang (September 14, 2020). "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route". doi:10.5281/zenodo.4028830. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ^ "Chinese virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan publishes report claiming COVID-19 was made in a lab". www.theaustralian.com.au. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  22. ^ a b Warmbrod, Kelsey Lane; West, Rachel M.; Connell, Nancy D.; Gronvall, Gigi Kwik (September 21, 2020). In Response: Yan et al Preprint—Examinations of the Origin of SARS-CoV-2 (PDF) (Report). Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  23. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Rapid Reviews: Covid-19. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020. Rapid Reviews: COVID-19 is an open-access overlay journal that seeks to accelerate peer review of COVID-19-related research and prevent the dissemination of false or misleading scientific news. The editorial team identifies papers related to the novel coronavirus and its impacts that have been posted to preprint servers across a wide range of disciplines, including biology, medicine, engineering, economics, and qualitative social sciences and commissions cross-linked, rapid peer reviews of these articles and reports. The journal also offers publishing options to the authors of papers that are positively reviewed, providing a vital outlet for research communications produced in the wake of the pandemic.
  24. ^ "Review Approach". Rapid Reviews: Covid-19. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020. This is not traditional peer review. RR:C19 is trying to balance the need for rigor with the need for rapid responses.
  25. ^ Koyama, Takahiko (September 24, 2020), Review 1: "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route", Biological and Chemical Sciences, Rapid Reviews: Covid-19, MIT Press, ISSN 2692-4072, archived from the original on October 8, 2020 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lay-date= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |lay-url= ignored (help)
  26. ^ Lauring, Adam (September 25, 2020), Review 2: "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route", Biological and Chemical Sciences, Rapid Reviews: Covid-19, MIT Press, ISSN 2692-4072, archived from the original on October 8, 2020 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lay-date= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |lay-url= ignored (help)
  27. ^ Gallo, Robert Charles (September 30, 2020), Review 3: "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route", Biological and Chemical Sciences, Rapid Reviews: Covid-19, MIT Press, ISSN 2692-4072, archived from the original on October 8, 2020 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lay-date= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |lay-url= ignored (help)
  28. ^ Reitz, Marvin (October 4, 2020), Review 4: "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route", Biological and Chemical Sciences, Rapid Reviews: Covid-19, MIT Press, ISSN 2692-4072, archived from the original on October 10, 2020
  29. ^ Koyama, Takahiko; Lauring, Adam; Gallo, Robert Charles; Reitz, Marvin (September 24, 2020), Reviews of "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route", Biological and Chemical Sciences, Rapid Reviews: Covid-19, MIT Press, ISSN 2692-4072, archived from the original on October 8, 2020 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lay-date= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |lay-url= ignored (help)
  30. ^ a b c Wermuth, Julian (September 17, 2020). "Stammt das Coronavirus aus dem Labor? Diese 4 Punkte sollten dich skeptisch machen" [Does the coronavirus come from the laboratory? These 4 points should make you skeptical]. Der Faktencheck, 'The factcheck' (in German). Watson [de]. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  31. ^ Andersen, Kristian G.; Rambaut, Andrew; Lipkin, W. Ian; Holmes, Edward C.; Garry, Robert F. (March 17, 2020). "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2". Nature Medicine. 26 (4): 450–452. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9. PMC 7095063. PMID 32284615.
  32. ^ Dorman, Sam (September 15, 2020). "Chinese virologist: China's government 'intentionally' released COVID-19". Fox News. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
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  34. ^ Daniel Funke (September 16, 2020). "Tucker Carlson guest airs debunked conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was created in a lab". PolitiFact.
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  36. ^ "Chinese virologist: China's government 'intentionally' released COVID-19". Fox News. September 15, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  37. ^ "Chinese virologist who claimed coronavirus was created in a lab and fled to US has been suspended by Twitter". The Independent. September 16, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  38. ^ B, Urian (October 6, 2020). "Dr. Li-Meng Yan, COVID-19 Whistleblower, Joins Twitter After Her Mother Allegedly Got Arrested". Tech Times. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  39. ^ Yan, Li-Meng; Kang, Shu; Guan, Jie; Hu, Shanchang (October 8, 2020). "SARS-CoV-2 Is an Unrestricted Bioweapon: A Truth Revealed through Uncovering a Large-Scale, Organized Scientific Fraud". doi:10.5281/zenodo.4073131. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  40. ^ "Covid-19 is an 'unrestricted bioweapon': Virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan accuses China of fabricating genomic sequence". meaww.com. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
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