#RaccoonDogGate: New data does NOT link raccoon dogs to COVID-19’s origin with Steve Massey...
On 3/17/23, the MSM news cycle was dominated by an incredible claim by a group of international scientists: “new data” from early 2020 linked raccoon dogs at the Wuhan Seafood Market to the origin of COVID-19. When “Raccoon Dog Mediapalooza” commenced, journalists and science reporters had no data, no preprint, and no peer reviewed paper to validate the claims of these scientists. Now we have all three. Independent analysis of the “new data” shows that the international scientists, largely comprised of “the usual suspects,” have once again misrepresented the evidence to support their preferred narrative [a natural spillover at the Huanan Seafood Market] and have co-opted the mainstream media to amplify it. Today, I interview Dr. Steven Massey to discuss #raccoondoggate, the data, what it shows—and more importantly, what it does not show. Spoiler alert: No credible evidence links raccoon dogs to the origin of COVID-19. Period. After interviewing Steve, one conclusion is clear: it is absurd to conclude from the “new data” that an infected raccoon dog at the Huanan Seafood Market is linked to the origin of COVID-19. We answer the question proposed in the first installment of this travesty: Yes, raccoon dogs are the new pangolins! Dr. Massey is a researcher in bioinformatics, metagenomics and genomics, complexity and molecular evolution.
About Our Guest
Steve Massey is a professor of bioinformatics at the University of Puerto Rico. Steve has studied topics including the origin of life and the self-organization of the genetic code, the emergence of robustness in complex systems, social network analysis of biblical texts, and the deceptive signaling strategies of molecules, organisms and humans. The latter led him to study the deceptive strategies used by SARS-CoV-2 to manipulate the human host and promote its transmission through the population, which then led to his current interest in the origin of the virus itself. Steve has been conducting decentralized investigation with members of the DRASTIC group and others, in order to glean information from genomic datasets that may help shed light on whether SARS-CoV-2 emerged via zoonosis or a research related accident.
