An investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 virus just got a big boost.
United States intelligence agencies were able to tap into a "treasure trove" of data from the Institute of Virology in Wuhan, or WIV, that could provide investigators with new insight into where the virus originated.
However, the vast amount of data accessed is in Mandarin. Supercomputers are helping with the processing end of things, but the agencies have too few Mandarin-speaking biologists with adequate security clearance on hand to translate the findings into English.
The Daily Caller reported,
The data includes entire virus genomes that scientists at WIV studied, sources familiar with the data collection told CNN. However, intelligence agencies are reportedly struggling to process the data, due to the sheer quantity of it and the fact that it is in Mandarin. The agencies are reportedly using supercomputers at the Department of Energy to process the virus data, but do not have enough Mandarin-speaking biologists to aid the effort.
“Obviously there are scientists who are (security) cleared,” an intelligence source told CNN. “But Mandarin-speaking ones who are cleared? That’s a very small pool. And not just any scientists, but ones who specialize in bio? So you can see how this quickly becomes difficult.”
WIV lab workers were ordered by the country's National Health Commission to destroy the data. The Chinese government also instructed the United States National Institutes of Health to remove data entered into a U.S. database, but Dr. Jesse Bloom of the University of Washington was able to recover it.
Research based on the recovered data showed that the virus existed before the outbreak at the wet market on which its release was initially blamed. Sources are somehow able to predict that the new data won't be able to definitively prove or disprove the source of the virus. The investigation was ordered by Joe Biden on May 26th with a 90-day deadline.
