Led by Shi “The Batwoman” Zhegli, the head of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), WhuhanBio Pty Ltd, promises investors to apply genetic engineering techniques to create novel coronaviruses that would control or even wipe out populations of rats, mice, locust, Colorado beetle and other pests, as well as parasitic worms, bacteria, protozoa and plasmodia.
WhuhanBio investment memorandum says the company possesses technology and knowledge to create new viruses that would precisely attack only specific species, while remaining harmless to the other ones. The human and economic impact of this technology cannot be underestimated. A synthetic virus that would wipe out the entire populations of Malaria-causing plasmodia would prevent 230 million infections and 400,000 deaths each year, as well as $2B in economic damage. The economic impact of controlling populations of parasitic worms and agricultural pests could be even higher.
The reverse merger with the BSIETW Acquisition Corp. will coincide with an oversubscribed $6B private (PIPE) investment lead by Softbank’s Vision Fund, with the participation of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman via the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, the Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, Goldman Sacks, Bill Gates, the Winklevoss twins and Elon Musk, with the latter ones making their contribution in Bitcoin. This will give WuhanBio an estimated $69B valuation, which, according to Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill of the WallStreetBets Reddit forum, is still a bargain.
Whereas several epidemiologists expressed concern that a virus engineered to attack rats could jump species and become harmful to humans, Dr. Shi Zhegli brought Wuhan Institute of Virology’s track record to assure the investors that the company has an ability to create viruses with extremely narrow targets. One example given in the prospectus refers to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is not only specific to homo sapience, but can selectively attack specific sub-species and sub-populations. It was initially engineered to reduce the Uyghur population but then, upon an urgent CCP request, was quickly reprogrammed to focus on elderly Caucasians.
Whereas Dr. Shi’s arguments may sound reassuring, with the entire process of creating new viruses being highly computerized, another danger exists – a danger of a cyberattack by Russian hackers. They could surreptitiously change a few bases in the DNA code that would remain unnoticed by the WuhanBio’s scientists but dramatically change the virus’s virulence and targeting, says Ukrainian cyber-security expert Petr Kislodrischenko.
