Reverse Transcription of SARS-CoV-2 into the genome: a brief update

In brief, I am getting a lot of comments about my blog post on the preprint claiming to show reverse transcription of SARS-CoV-2, which has since been contributed to PNAS via the senior author on the publication (this process is different from traditional peer review and you can read about how Linus Pauling abused it to publish bad science about vitamin C here)- after it was rejected from the initial journal it was to be submitted to. To the publication’s credit, additional experiments have been added which do appear to show real reverse transcription- but the clinical relevance of these data are unclear as the publication in Science explains given that to achieve this outcome levels of LINE-1 had to be significantly overexpressed to an extent far beyond that which occurs physiologically. Experts have additionally noted that the integration events do not resemble those mediated by LINE-1. Even more recently, a separate profiling of the chimeric sequences showed quite convincingly that they almost certainly are artifactual. There is also another preprint which has shown the same. Also if people don’t want to listen to me regarding the implications of these findings on an mRNA vaccine, here is a paleovirologist who explains it. I doubt this will put the issue to rest because of course but I do not currently have the time to go through and respond to each comment I am getting and this should address most of them, even if people find it unsatisfying. Additionally, because the scope of the comments is getting to be overwhelming, I am removing this feature from future posts and requesting instead that all comments be submitted to me directly via the contact information I provide on the blog.