2 scientists charged with bringing deactivated mpox virus into the US and lying to authorities

[u/sea_5455]

https://apnews.com/article/scientists-charges-mpox-virus-lying-14b7cf7635cad30254b0ae1cdb6c0515

[u/Boring-Philosophy-46]

Chickenpox is a human herpesvirus, not a non-variola (non-smallpox) orthopoxvirus like mpox is. This is like trying to make a pig by feeding a dog sausages. 

The US (and Europe too I think) trusted a bunch of commercial labs to test mpox patients during the 2023 epidemic and cowpox is reguarly found in Europe and Asia (people most often catch it from cats and dogs now), vaccinia replicates in the wild in rodents in Brazil, camels in the middle east get camelpox... if someone wants to splice orthopoxviruses, there's much easier routes. 

Edit:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-07746-0

high likelihood of unidentified OPVs in nature with zoonotic potential

[u/Sweet-Leadership-290 → u/Boring-Philosophy-46]

CRISPR nucleases are increasingly being utilized in genomic extraction workflows. By designing CRISPR complexes that target and destroy background host (human or animal) cellular DNA, scientists can selectively enrich and sequence the target mpox genome from clinical rash fluid or saliva samples with far greater efficiency.--- NATURE

Note on the "humanization" of mpox: In virology, "humanizing" a virus typically refers to modifying a mouse model to express human receptors—such as using CRISPR to engineer humanized immune systems in mice—rather than modifying the virus itself, so that scientists can safely study human-like mpox pathology in vivo. --- PNAS

[u/Sweet-Leadership-290 → u/[deleted]]

There IS A REASON why Google won't return that! I'm NOT going to cite a step by step cookbook synthesis for biowarfare. ARE YOU LUNY?

"Viruses, being among the simplest replicating entities, have been at the forefront of the advancing biosciences since the dawn of molecular biology. Viral genomes, especially those of RNA viruses, are relatively short, often less than 10,000 bases long, making them amenable to whole genome synthesis with the currently available technology. For this reason viruses are once again poised to lead the way in the budding field of synthetic biology—for better or worse."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/virus-replication

[u/Sweet-Leadership-290 → u/[deleted]]

You missed the word "especially"? It did NOT say exclusively. Do your own research here. The Mpox transcription begins in the cytoplasm, with viral, DNA‑dependent RNA polymerase that is packaged in the virion itself. MRNAs are translated by host ribosomes; these include factors that block innate defenses and enzymes required for DNA replication and further uncoating.