Just-Released Docs Reveal NIH Deleted COVID Data At The Request Of Wuhan Researcher

Just-Released Docs Reveal NIH Deleted COVID Data For Wuhan Researcher – UncoverDC

Introduction to the Deleted NIH Coronavirus Sequences

The deletions from the NIH’s Sequence Read Archive (SRA) were first underscored in a June 22, 2021, published preprint by Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Bloom had discovered that public access to the sequence had been removed. He contacted the NIH in June 2021 to discuss his findings, explaining in an email that the gene sequences may help understand how the pandemic began. As the NIH remained silent, Bloom’s subsequent preprint that same month prompted several media reports and letters from U.S. Senators. The first paragraph of Bloom’s research paper, titled “Recovery of deleted deep sequencing data shed more light on the early Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 epidemic,” states:

“The origin and early spread of SARS-CoV-2 remains shrouded in mystery. Here I identify a data set containing SARS-CoV-2 sequences from early in the Wuhan epidemic that has been deleted from the NIH’s Sequence Read Archive. I recover the deleted files from the Google Cloud, and reconstruct partial sequences of 13 early epidemic viruses. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences in the context of carefully annotated existing data suggests that the Huanan Seafood Market sequences that are the focus of the joint WHO-China report are not fully representative of the viruses in Wuhan early in the epidemic. Instead, the progenitor of known SARS-CoV-2 sequences likely contained three mutations relative to the market viruses that made it more similar to SARS-CoV-2’s bat coronavirus relatives.”

 

On July 14, 2021, following Bloom’s article, Empower Oversight filed a FOIA request with the NIH, seeking transparency about controversial deletions from the SRA “within the next 20 days.” With open, global cooperation as the intended goal, the agency operates the database as part of its participation in the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) to “capture, organize, preserve and present nucleotide sequence data as part of the open scientific record.” Echoing this objective, a statement released by INSDC on SARS-CoV-2 sequence data sharing during the pandemic reinforced the need for mutual effort and transparency. The group asserted, “The global COVID-19 crisis has brought an urgent need for the rapid open sharing of data related to the outbreak.” 

Undoubtedly, the global pandemic set the stage for the mandatory requirement of transparency. Frustrated, after four months and no response from the NIH to its FOIA request, on Nov. 17, 2021, Empower Oversight filed a lawsuit (with an amended complaint) against the agency to force its compliance with the FOIA and obtain the requested documents. Commenting on the 238-page batch of emails finally received, Empower Oversight notes that NIH’s FOIA staff has made significant errors when searching for relevant records and reviewing records for FOIA exemptions, resulting in erroneously redacted content. Nonetheless, the documents shared by the NIH thus far contain crucial new information. 

Critical Findings in the 238 Pages of NIH Documents

The recently released emails show that on Mar. 17, 2020, a researcher from Wuhan University submitted genetic sequences to the NIH to upload to the SRA. Then, in early June 2020, the researcher requested that the agency remove them. The NIH—which admittedly funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan—initially declined to delete the data. However, when the researchers made the same request in mid-June, with a different rationale for the deletion, the NIH removed the sequences.

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