DEFUSE

 DEFUSE(Biological weapon/Research?,  gain-of-function,  hoax?)

Date	2018
Perpetrators	Peter Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance
Description	A rejected proposal from Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance to weaponise naturally occuring bat coronaviruses, to preempt "zoonotic spillover". Authenticity questionable.

DEFUSE - Defusing the Threat of Bat-borne Coronaviruses (2018) was a research proposal by Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance, asking for $14,209,245 of funding from DARPA to preempt "zoonotic spillover through reduction of viral

shedding in the bat caves".

Origins

The documents was reportedly found on an internet server.^{[By whom?]}

Authenticity?

Jonathan Couey suggested, possibly in 2022, that the document was a fraud designed to promote fear and uncertainty and to hide the fact that "gain-of-function" is not possible on coronaviruses viruses, due to their poor replication competence.

Application

Rejection

DARPA rejected the proposal, citing a number of reasons such as the failure to address the risks of Gain-of-function research.

Exposure

Project Veritas released the rejection letter in January 2021.

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:DEFUSE project funding rejection letter	letter	2018	DARPA

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.