June 2021 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

1984: DNA Databases - GovCorp Control of You by Association, Genetic Privacy a Human Right
by grarpamp 12 Jun '21

12 Jun '21

The War Over Genetic Privacy Is Just Beginning By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead June 08, 2021 [3]John Whitehead "[4]When you upload your DNA, you're potentially becoming a genetic informant on the rest of your family."-- Law professor Elizabeth Joh "Guilt by association" has taken on new connotations in the technological age. All of those fascinating, genealogical searches that allow you to trace your family tree by way of a DNA sample can now be used against you and those you love. As of 2019, more than [5]26 million people had added their DNA to ancestry databases. It's estimated those databases could top 100 million profiles within the year, thanks to the aggressive marketing of companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe. It's a tempting proposition: provide some mega-corporation with a spit sample or a cheek swab, and in return, you get to learn everything about who you are, where you came from, and who is part of your extended your family. The possibilities are endless. You could be the fourth cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II of England. Or the illegitimate grandchild of an oil tycoon. Or the [6]sibling of a serial killer. Without even realizing it, by submitting your DNA to an ancestry database, you're giving the police access to the [7]genetic makeup, relationships and health profiles of every relative--past, present and future--in your family, whether or not they ever agreed to be part of such a database. After all, a DNA print reveals everything about "[8]who we are, where we come from, and who we will be." It's what police like to refer to a "[9]modern fingerprint." Whereas fingerprint technology created a watershed moment for police in their ability to "crack" a case, DNA technology is now being hailed by law enforcement agencies as the [10]magic bullet in crime solving. Indeed, police have begun [11]using ancestry databases to solve cold cases that have remained unsolved for decades. For instance, in 2018, former police officer Joseph DeAngelo was [12]flagged as the notorious "Golden State Killer" through the use of genetic genealogy, which allows police to match up an unknown suspect's crime scene DNA with that of any family members in a genealogy database. Police were able to identify DeAngelo using the DNA of a distant cousin found in a public DNA database. Once police narrowed the suspect list to DeAngelo, they tracked him--snatched up a tissue he had tossed in a trash can--and [13]used his DNA on the tissue to connect him to a rash of rapes and murders from the 1970s and `80s. Although DeAngelo was the first public arrest made using forensic genealogy, [14]police have identified more than 150 suspects since then. Most recently, [15]police relied on genetic genealogy to nab the killer of a 15-year-old girl who was stabbed to death nearly 50 years ago. Who wouldn't want to get psychopaths and serial rapists off the streets and safely behind bars, right? At least, that's the [16]argument being used by law enforcement to support their unrestricted access to these genealogy databases. "In the interest of public safety, [17]don't you want to make it easy for people to be caught? Police really want to do their job. They're not after you. They just want to make you safe," insists Colleen Fitzpatrick, a co-founder of the DNA Doe Project, which identifies unknown bodies and helps find suspects in old crimes. Except it's not just psychopaths and serial rapists who get [18]caught up in the investigative dragnet. Anyone who comes up as a possible DNA match--including distant family members--suddenly becomes part of [19]a circle of suspects that must be tracked, investigated and ruled out. Although a number of states had forbidden police from using government databases to track family members of suspects, the genealogy websites provided a loophole that proved [20]irresistible to law enforcement. Hoping to close that loophole, a few states have started introducing legislation to [21]restrict when and how police use these genealogical databases, with Maryland requiring that they can only be used for serious violent crimes such as murder and rape, only after they exhaust other investigatory methods, and only under the supervision of a judge. Yet the debate over genetic privacy--and when one's DNA becomes a [22]public commodity outside the protection of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on warrantless searches and seizures--is really only beginning. Certainly, it's just a matter of time before the government gets hold of our DNA, either through mandatory programs carried out in connection with law enforcement and corporate America, by warrantlessly accessing our familial [23]DNA shared with genealogical services such as [24]Ancestry and [25]23andMe, or through the collection of our "shed" or "touch" DNA. According to research published in the journal Science, more than 60 percent of Americans who have some European ancestry can be identified using DNA databases, [26]even if they have not submitted their own DNA. According to law professor Natalie Ram, [27]one genealogy profile can lead to as many as 300 other people. That's just on the commercial side. All 50 states now maintain their own DNA databases, although the protocols for collection differ from state to state. Increasingly, many of the data from local databanks are being uploaded to CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), the FBI's massive DNA database, which has become a de facto way to identify and track the American people from birth to death. Even hospitals have gotten in on the game by taking and storing newborn babies' DNA, often without their parents' knowledge or consent. It's part of the [28]government's mandatory genetic screening of newborns. In many states, the DNA is stored indefinitely. What this means for those being born today is inclusion in a government database that contains intimate information about who they are, their ancestry, and what awaits them in the future, including their inclinations to be followers, leaders or troublemakers. Get ready, folks, because the government-- helped along by Congress (which adopted legislation allowing police to collect and test DNA immediately following arrests), President Trump (who signed [29]the Rapid DNA Act into law), the courts (which have [30]ruled that police can routinely take DNA samples from people who are arrested but not yet convicted of a crime), and local police agencies (which are chomping at the bit to acquire this new crime-fighting gadget)--has [31]embarked on a diabolical campaign to create a nation of suspects predicated on a massive national DNA database. Referred to as "magic boxes," Rapid DNA machines--portable, about the size of a desktop printer, highly unregulated, [32]far from fool-proof, and so fast that they can produce DNA profiles in less than two hours--allow police to go on fishing expeditions for any hint of possible misconduct using DNA samples. Journalist Heather Murphy explains: "As police agencies build out their local DNA databases, they are collecting DNA not only from people who have been charged with major crimes but also, increasingly, [33]from people who are merely deemed suspicious, permanently linking their genetic identities to criminal databases." The ramifications of these DNA databases are [34]far-reaching. At a minimum, they will do away with any semblance of [35]privacy or anonymity. The [36]lucrative possibilities for hackers and commercial entities looking to profit off one's biological record are endless. Moreover, while much of the public debate, legislative efforts and legal challenges in recent years have focused on the protocols surrounding when police can legally collect a suspect's DNA (with or without a search warrant and whether upon arrest or conviction), the question of how to handle "shed" or "touch" DNA has largely slipped through without much debate or opposition. As scientist Leslie A. Pray [37]notes: We all shed DNA, leaving traces of our identity practically everywhere we go. Forensic scientists use DNA left behind on cigarette butts, phones, handles, keyboards, cups, and numerous other objects, not to mention the genetic content found in drops of bodily fluid, like blood and semen. In fact, the garbage you leave for curbside pickup is a potential gold mine of this sort of material. All of this shed or so-called abandoned DNA is free for the taking by local police investigators hoping to crack unsolvable cases. Or, if the future scenario depicted at the beginning of this article is any indication, shed DNA is also free for inclusion in a secret universal DNA databank. What this means is that if you have the misfortune to leave your DNA traces anywhere a crime has been committed, you've already got a file somewhere in some state or federal database--albeit it may be a file without a name. As Heather Murphy warns in the New York Times: "The science-fiction future, in which police can swiftly identify robbers and murderers from discarded soda cans and cigarette butts, has arrived... [38]Genetic fingerprinting is set to become as routine as the old-fashioned kind." Even old samples taken from crime scenes and "cold" cases are being unearthed and mined for their DNA profiles. Today, helped along by robotics and automation, DNA processing, analysis and reporting takes far less time and can bring forth all manner of information, right down to a person's eye color and relatives. Incredibly, one company [39]specializes in creating "mug shots" for police based on DNA samples from unknown "suspects" which are then compared to individuals with similar genetic profiles. If you haven't yet connected the dots, let me point the way. Having already used surveillance technology to render the entire American populace potential suspects, DNA technology in the hands of government will complete our transition to a suspect society in which we are all merely waiting to be matched up with a crime. No longer can we consider ourselves innocent until proven guilty. Now we are all suspects in a DNA lineup until circumstances and science say otherwise. Suspect Society, meet the American police state. Every dystopian sci-fi film we've ever seen is suddenly converging into this present moment in a dangerous trifecta between science, technology and a government that wants to be all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful. By tapping into your phone lines and cell phone communications, the [40]government knows what you say. By uploading all of your emails, opening your mail, and reading your Facebook posts and [41]text messages, the [42]government knows what you write. By monitoring your movements with the use of license plate readers, surveillance cameras and other tracking devices, the [43]government knows where you go. By churning through all of the detritus of your life--[44]what you read, where you go, what you say--the [45]government can predict what you will do. By mapping the synapses in your brain, scientists--and in turn, the government--[46]will soon know what you remember. And by accessing your DNA, the [47]government will soon know everything else about you that they don't already know: your family chart, your ancestry, what you look like, your health history, your inclination to follow orders or chart your own course, etc. Of course, none of these technologies are foolproof. Nor are they immune from tampering, hacking or user bias. Nevertheless, they have become a convenient tool in the hands of government agents to render null and void the Constitution's requirements of privacy and its prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures. What this amounts to is a scenario in which we have little to no defense of against charges of wrongdoing, especially when "convicted" by technology, and even less protection against the government sweeping up our DNA in much the same way it sweeps up our phone calls, emails and text messages. With the entire governmental system shifting into a pre-crime mode aimed at detecting and pursuing those who "might" commit a crime before they have an inkling, let alone an opportunity, to do so, it's not so far-fetched to imagine a scenario in which government agents (FBI, local police, etc.) target potential criminals based on their genetic disposition to be a "troublemaker" or their relationship to past dissenters. Equally disconcerting: if scientists can, using DNA, [48]track salmon across hundreds of square miles of streams and rivers, how easy will it be for government agents to not only know everywhere we've been and how long we were at each place but collect our easily shed DNA and add it to the government's already burgeoning database? Not to be overlooked, DNA evidence is not infallible: it can be wrong, either through human error, [49]tampering, or even outright [50]fabrication, and it happens [51]more often than we are told. The danger, warns scientist Dan Frumkin, is that [52]crime scenes can be engineered with fabricated DNA. Now if you happen to be the kind of person who trusts the government implicitly and refuses to believe it would ever do anything illegal or immoral, then the prospect of government officials--police, especially--using fake DNA samples to influence the outcome of a case might seem outlandish. Yet as history shows, the probability of our government acting in a way that is not only illegal but immoral becomes less a question of "if" and more a question of "when." With technology, the [53]courts, the corporations and Congress conspiring to invade our privacy [54]on a cellular level, suddenly the landscape becomes that much more dystopian. As I make clear in my book [55]Battlefield America: The War on the American People, this is the slippery slope toward a dystopian world in which there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. WC: 2211 ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president [56]The Rutherford Institute. His books [57]Battlefield America: The War on the American People and [58]A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State are available at [59]www.amazon.com. He can be contacted at [60]johnw(a)rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at [61]www.rutherford.org. Publication Guidelines / Reprint Permission John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact [62]staff(a)rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission. 4. https://newrepublic.com/article/148170/supreme-court-rewrite-rules-dna-sear… 5. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/02/11/103446/more-than-26-million-peo… 6. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/02/11/103446/more-than-26-million-peo… 7. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/02/11/103446/more-than-26-million-peo… 8. https://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/04/how-the-dna-youre-shedding-cons… 9. https://www.npr.org/2013/06/03/188397999/supreme-court-rules-arrest-dna-col… 10. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-11-24/law-enforcement-dna-cri… 11. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/02/11/103446/more-than-26-million-peo… 12. https://abcnews.go.com/US/arrest-made-1972-killing-15-year-illinois-girl/st… 13. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dna-databases-can-send-police-or… 14. https://abcnews.go.com/US/arrest-made-1972-killing-15-year-illinois-girl/st… 15. https://abcnews.go.com/US/arrest-made-1972-killing-15-year-illinois-girl/st… 16. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-were-cracking-cold-cases-dna-we… 17. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-were-cracking-cold-cases-dna-we… 18. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/science/dna-police-laws.html 19. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-were-cracking-cold-cases-dna-we… 20. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/02/… 21. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-cr-police-genealogy-searches-… 22. https://www.wired.com/story/cops-are-getting-a-new-tool-for-family-tree-sle… 23. https://newrepublic.com/article/148170/supreme-court-rewrite-rules-dna-sear… 24. https://www.ancestrydna.com/ 25. https://www.23andme.com/ 26. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dna-databases-can-send-police-or… 27. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-cr-police-genealogy-searches-… 28. https://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/04/baby.dna.government/ 29. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/510/all-info 30. https://www.npr.org/2013/06/03/188397999/supreme-court-rules-arrest-dna-col… 31. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/science/dna-crime-gene-technology.html 32. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/science/dna-crime-gene-technology.html 33. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/science/dna-crime-gene-technology.html 34. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/05/how-your-dna-or-someone-elses-can-sen… 35. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dna-databases-can-send-police-or… 36. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-were-cracking-cold-cases-dna-we… 37. https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/legislative-landmarks-of-forensic… 38. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/science/dna-crime-gene-technology.html 39. https://old.post-gazette.com/pg/04347/425686.stm 40. https://www.cnet.com/news/nsa-spying-flap-extends-to-contents-of-u-s-phone-… 41. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/16/nsa-collects-millions-text-me… 42. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/no-warrant-no-problem-how-the-g… 43. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-spies-on-millions-of-cars-1422314779 44. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/science/11predict.html 45. https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415340,00.asp 46. https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/05/scientists-can-now-read-y… 47. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/science/building-face-and-a-case-on-dna.… 48. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/science/even-elusive-animals-leave-dna-a… 49. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-19412819 50. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html 51. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-19412819 52. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html 53. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/11/judge-said-police-can-search-dna-mi… 54. https://newrepublic.com/article/148170/supreme-court-rewrite-rules-dna-sear… 55. https://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-America-War-American-People/dp/1590793099 56. https://www.rutherford.org/ 57. https://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-America-War-American-People/dp/1590793099 58. https://www.amazon.com/Government-Wolves-Emerging-American-Police/dp/159079… 59. https://www.amazon.com/ 60. mailto:johnw@rutherford.org 61. https://www.rutherford.org/ 62. mailto:staff@rutherford.org 63. https://rutherford.kindful.com/?campaign=316112 64. https://rutherford.kindful.com/?campaign=316112 65. https://rutherford.kindful.com/?campaign=316112 67. https://rutherford.kindful.com/?campaign=329363 68. https://www.youtube.com/user/RutherfordInstitute 69. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rutherford-Institute/50714237985 70. https://twitter.com/Rutherford_Inst 77. https://smile.amazon.com/ch/52-1267484 78. https://a.co/d6dpfXP 88. https://rutherford.shop.etransfer.com/ 89. https://rutherford.kindful.com/?campaign=316112 91. https://rutherford.kindful.com/?campaign=329363 99. https://rutherford.shop.etransfer.com/ 100. https://www.youtube.com/user/RutherfordInstitute 101. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rutherford-Institute/50714237985 102. https://twitter.com/Rutherford_Inst 107. https://rutherford.shop.etransfer.com/

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NBC News: The FBI's seizing one bitcoin wallet won't stop ransomware — but it's a start
by jim bell 12 Jun '21

12 Jun '21

NBC News: The FBI's seizing one bitcoin wallet won't stop ransomware — but it's a start. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/fbis-seizing-one-bitcoin-wallet-wont-…

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[info@fsf.org: FSF and GNU move official IRC channels to Libera.Chat network]
by Se7en 12 Jun '21

12 Jun '21

FSF joins Anti-Freenode Crusade. ----- Forwarded message from "Greg Farough, FSF" <info(a)fsf.org> ----- Reply-To: "Greg Farough, FSF" <info(a)fsf.org> From: "Greg Farough, FSF" <info(a)fsf.org> Subject: FSF and GNU move official IRC channels to Libera.Chat network List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:crmmailer+u.163495.66503010.438e24c67c337aa3@fsf.org> job_id: 163495 Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2021 22:56:09 -0400 Message-Id: <E1lrtof-0006ED-0P(a)crmserver2p.fsf.org> *Please consider adding <info(a)fsf.org> to your address book, which will ensure that our messages reach you and not your spam box.* *Read and share online: <https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-and-gnu-move-official-irc-channels-to-libera-c…>* Dear Free Software Supporter, On May 27th, we held a [community meeting][1] to discuss the future of the FSF and GNU Project's official presence on Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Although this meeting was called as a response to recent changes in the Freenode IRC network's governance structure, it also gave us the opportunity to assess the viability of chat protocols that had not been developed at the time of the FSF and GNU's [2002 announcement][2] to choose Freenode as our official IRC network. [1]: https://www.fsf.org/events/community-meeting-on-the-future-of-our-irc-prese… [2]: https://www.gnu.org/press/2002-08-26-freenode.html **As a result of this meeting and our review, the FSF and GNU have decided to relocate our IRC channels to [Libera.Chat][3]. Effective immediately, Libera is the official home of our channels, which include but are not limited to all those in the #fsf, #gnu, and #libreplanet namespaces.** [3]: https://libera.chat **On June 25th, at 10:00 AM EDT (UTC 14:00), we plan to forward any channels remaining in the #fsf, #gnu, and #libreplanet namespaces on the Freenode network to their corresponding ##fsf, ##gnu, and ##libreplanet counterparts. As per Freenode policy, channels with the `##` prefix are unofficial "topical" channels, and accordingly, they will not be moderated by GNU or FSF staff.** Please note that the irc.gnu.org address, which has historically pointed to the Freenode network, will be disabled on June 25th, to give any users still connecting with this address sufficient notice. It is important to emphasize that this decision is **not** binding on GNU package maintainers. However, we invite GNU maintainers to join us and many other free software projects by migrating to the Libera network. Maintainers are encouraged to email <maintainers(a)gnu.org> with their questions or concerns. ## Rationale Our decision-making process was twofold, and involved weighing the community feedback we received against a set of criteria our working group developed to gauge a chat network's acceptability to software freedom activists. This working group was drawn from both FSF and GNU, with Greg Farough of the FSF staff joining Amin Bandali and Jason Self, two long-time GNU webmasters and volunteers appointed by Chief GNUisance Richard Stallman, to investigate the issue. We made our decision based on the following criteria: * Is it possible to connect to the network using exclusively free software? Is it easy to do so? * How does the network staff approach their duties? Do they apply their policies consistently and reliably? * Is the wider community able to provide meaningful input on the network's governance and decision-making? * Are a large number of free software projects and communities on the network? * What steps does the network take to preserve user anonymity? Being software freedom activists, the first of these points was by far the most crucial, and had the most involvement in our selecting IRC over an alternate protocol. Having made this decision, and once we had weighed the community feedback we received along our criteria and personal experiences as Freenode channel operators, our choice of Libera.Chat became clear. Despite its age, IRC remains a strong favorite of the free software community. Although we are optimistic about the Matrix protocol and remain committed to following its development closely, we were not able to justify a full relocation of the FSF and GNU's official channels to a Matrix server. Doing so would create the unacceptable situation of encouraging a large number of users to run nonfree software in the form of nonfree JavaScript, which is used by the flagship Matrix.org server to authenticate users. At the same time, we could not commit to moving fully over to XMPP, which would impose certain technical limitations on both users and FSF staff, and which does not offer many compelling advantages over IRC. We've also definitely heard from many of our members showing renewed interest in the XMPP server the FSF provides as an [associate membership benefit][4], and we are looking at the possibility of devoting more resources to it. To reiterate, though IRC remains a key venue for communication in and around GNU and FSF, we are keeping an open mind and eye towards other existing or new communication protocols and software, including Matrix and XMPP, that enable users to communicate in freedom. [4]: https://www.fsf.org/associate/benefits.html As we have had nearly twenty years of positive experiences with the Freenode staff, most of whom now comprise the staff of the Libera network, we are confident in their technical and interpersonal expertise, as well as their ability to make the network as long-lasting and integral to the free software community a ----- End forwarded message ----- -- |-----/ | Se7en / The One and Only! | se7en(a)cock.email / | 0x0F83F93882CF6116 / | https://se7en-site.neocities.org

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Wccftech: Starlink On Verge Of Losing Fight For Crucial Infrastructure To Amazon
by jim bell 12 Jun '21

12 Jun '21

Wccftech: Starlink On Verge Of Losing Fight For Crucial Infrastructure To Amazon. https://wccftech.com/starlink-on-verge-of-losing-fight-for-crucial-infrastr…

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Fw: Chloroquine is "highly effective" at inhibiting reproduc
by jim bell 11 Jun '21

11 Jun '21

washingtonexaminer.com: Hydroxychloroquine study further erodes credibility of health 'experts'.Hydroxychloroquine study further erodes credibility of health 'experts' | | | | | | | | | | | Hydroxychloroquine study further erodes credibility of health 'experts' Trump Derangement Syndrome might be a silly term, but the phenomenon itself was real. Almost every time the former president opened his mouth, members of the media and expert class would run forward with their list of reasons why he was wrong — befor | | | | Jim Bell's Note:Chloroquine and hydroxy chloroquine are not identical, but they are closely related. >From this recent article: Hydroxychloroquine study further erodes credibility of health 'experts' By Kaylee McGhee WhiteJune 11, 2021 - 12:42 PM Trump Derangement Syndrome might be a silly term, but the phenomenon itself was real. Almost every time the former president opened his mouth, members of the media and expert class would run forward with their list of reasons why he was wrong — before actually checking to see if he was. The immediate condemnation of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug touted by Trump during the early days of the pandemic, is a great example. Trump claimed that the drug could be used as an effective treatment against COVID-19, and within minutes, there were dozens of headlines slamming him for pushing an “unproven” and “disproved” medication. The health experts agreed and warned the public that hydroxychloroquine, a drug that had been in common use for more than 60 years, could be “dangerous.” As a result, the Food and Drug Administration pulled its emergency use authorization for the drug and suspended trials testing its effectiveness. The World Health Organization urged the international community to abandon using hydroxychloroquine. And Twitter even restricted the account of Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., because he posted a video of several doctors touting the effectiveness of the drug, which amounted to “spreading misleading and potentially harmful misinformation,” according to the social media gian(End of partial, recent quote) On Sat, Feb 8, 2020 at 9:18 PM jim bell <jdb10987(a)yahoo.com> wrote: [chloroquine is an old-line drug typically used against malaria] [partial quote follows] https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/science/020620/could-an-old-malaria-drug-… ASBMB Today Science Could an old malaria drug help fight the new coronavirus? Could an old malaria drug help fight the new coronavirus? By John Arnst February 06, 2020 Chloroquine might be getting new life as an antiviral treatment for the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and has infected some 25,000 people in more than 25 countries. For decades, the drug was a front-line treatment and prophylactic for malaria. In a three-page paper published Tuesday in Cell Research, scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s State Key Laboratory of Virology write that both chloroquine and the antiviral remdesivir were, individually, “highly effective” at inhibiting replication of the novel coronavirus in cell culture. Their drug screen evaluated five other drugs that were not effective. The authors could not be reached for comment. Though the paper is brief, John Lednicky, a professor at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute, found its results intriguing. “It’s interesting in that it really lacks a lot of details but, nevertheless, if you look at the data as presented, at least in vitro, it seems like chloroquine can be used as an early-stage drug,” he said. “It would be very good if these types of experiments were repeated by more laboratories to see whether the same results occur across the board.” Chloroquine is a synthetic form of quinine, a compound found in the bark of cinchona trees native to Peru and used for centuries to treat malaria. Chloroquine was an essential element of mass drug administration campaigns to combat malaria throughout the second half of the 20th century, and remains one of the World Health Organization’s essential medicines. However, after the malaria parasites Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax began exhibiting resistance to the drug in the 1960s and 1980s, respectively, it was replaced by similar antimalarial compounds and combination therapies. Chloroquine is still widely used against the three other species of plasmodium and to treat autoimmune disorders and some cases of amebiasis, an intestinal infection caused by the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica. Chloroquine’s antiviral properties were explored in the mid-1990s against HIV and in the following decade against severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which is closely related to the novel coronavirus. In 2004, researchers in Belgium found that chloroquine inhibited replication of SARS in cell culture. The following year, however, another team at Utah State University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong evaluated a gamut of compounds against SARS replication in mice infected with the virus, finding that chloroquine was only effective as an anti-inflammatory agent. They recommended that it could be used in combination with compounds that prevent replication. Nevertheless, in 2009, the Belgian group found that lethal infections of human coronavirus OC43, a relative of SARS, could be averted in newborn mice by administering chloroquine through the mother’s milk. [end of partial quote] Also: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0282-0 Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro Manli Wang, Ruiyuan Cao, Leike Zhang, Xinglou Yang, Jia Liu, Mingyue Xu, Zhengli Shi, Zhihong Hu, Wu Zhong & Gengfu Xiao Cell Research (2020)Cite this article 171k Accesses 1108 Altmetric Metrics details Dear Editor, In December 2019, a novel pneumonia caused by a previously unknown pathogen emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in central China. The initial cases were linked to exposures in a seafood market in Wuhan.1 As of January 27, 2020, the Chinese authorities reported 2835 confirmed cases in mainland China, including 81 deaths. Additionally, 19 confirmed cases were identified in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and 39 imported cases were identified in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, United States, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, Australia and Canada. The pathogen was soon identified as a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which is closely related to sever acute respiratory syndrome CoV (SARS-CoV).2 Currently, there is no specific treatment against the new virus. Therefore, identifying effective antiviral agents to combat the disease is urgently needed. An efficient approach to drug discovery is to test whether the existing antiviral drugs are effective in treating related viral infections. The 2019-nCoV belongs to Betacoronavirus which also contains SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV (MERS-CoV). Several drugs, such as ribavirin, interferon, lopinavir-ritonavir, corticosteroids, have been used in patients with SARS or MERS, although the efficacy of some drugs remains controversial.3 In this study, we evaluated the antiviral efficiency of five FAD-approved drugs including ribavirin, penciclovir, nitazoxanide, nafamostat, chloroquine and two well-known broad-spectrum antiviral drugs remdesivir (GS-5734) and favipiravir (T-705) against a clinical isolate of 2019-nCoV in vitro. Standard assays were carried out to measure the effects of these compounds on the cytotoxicity, virus yield and infection rates of 2019-nCoVs. Firstly, the cytotoxicity of the candidate compounds in Vero E6 cells (ATCC-1586) was determined by the CCK8 assay. Then, Vero E6 cells were infected with nCoV-2019BetaCoV/Wuhan/WIV04/20192 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.05 in the presence of varying concentrations of the test drugs. DMSO was used in the controls. Efficacies were evaluated by quantification of viral copy numbers in the cell supernatant via quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and confirmed with visualization of virus nucleoprotein (NP) expression through immunofluorescence microscopy at 48 h post infection (p.i.) (cytopathic effect was not obvious at this time point of infection). Among the seven tested drugs, high concentrations of three nucleoside analogs including ribavirin (half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) = 109.50 μM, half-cytotoxic concentration (CC50) > 400 μM, selectivity index (SI) > 3.65), penciclovir (EC50 = 95.96 μM, CC50 > 400 μM, SI > 4.17) and favipiravir (EC50 = 61.88 μM, CC50 > 400 μM, SI > 6.46) were required to reduce the viral infection (Fig. 1a and Supplementary information, Fig. S1). However, favipiravir has been shown to be 100% effective in protecting mice against Ebola virus challenge, although its EC50 value in Vero E6 cells was as high as 67 μM,4 suggesting further in vivo studies are recommended to evaluate this antiviral nucleoside. Nafamostat, a potent inhibitor of MERS-CoV, which prevents membrane fusion, was inhibitive against the 2019-nCoV infection (EC50 = 22.50 μM, CC50 > 100 μM, SI > 4.44). Nitazoxanide, a commercial antiprotozoal agent with an antiviral potential against a broad range of viruses including human and animal coronaviruses, inhibited the 2019-nCoV at a low-micromolar concentration (EC50 = 2.12 μM; CC50 > 35.53 μM; SI > 16.76). Further in vivo evaluation of this drug against 2019-nCoV infection is recommended. Notably, two compounds remdesivir (EC50 = 0.77 μM; CC50 > 100 μM; SI > 129.87) and chloroquine (EC50 = 1.13 μM; CC50 > 100 μM, SI > 88.50) potently blocked virus infection at low-micromolar concentration and showed high SI (Fig. 1a, b).

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by jim bell 11 Jun '21

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by jim bell 11 Jun '21

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