# Bat Lady & The Dark Knight
[](https://dulandrift.formosahut.com/uploads/images/gallery/2022-02/image-1645000779434.png)
Courtesy WIV website, 2005 (now deleted): Cohorts Cahooting. From left: Don't know, (i'd like to), Hume Field (Aus), Bat Lady, The Dark Knight, Batty Man
[ABC interview at the Bat Lab](https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2011-08-16/scientists-scramble-to-stop-hendra-outbreaks/6181256)[, 2011:](https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2011-08-16/scientists-scramble-to-stop-hendra-outbreaks/6181256) *Waiting on the secure side is* *Dr Linfa Wang - leader of the group known as the **"bat pack"** - and personally known as the **bat virus man**. He's been working at the Animal Health Lab for 20 years.*
Yeah, *Bat Virus Man* is pretty good - i still like Dark Knight - now i'm in a quandary. *Bat Pack* though, that's great - can i use that?
As published by [Formosahut in May 2020](http://formosahut.com/forum/index.php?id=2055), there was a pivotal *Bat-Pack* GoF experiment in 2008 (same year Bat Virus Man was promoted to [Head Scientist](https://globalhealth.duke.edu/sites/default/files/cv/cv-linfa_wang-jan2017.pdf) at CSIRO) that*[ inserted a SARS S sequence into a bat virus](https://jvi.asm.org/content/82/4/1899)* *to enable ACE-2 binding*.
The experiments were conducted at WIV, led by Bat Lady & The Dark Knight - with Meng Yu, his wife, [also employed by CSIRO.](https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.01085-07?permanently=true)
[Differences in Receptor Usage:](https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.01085-07?permanently=true) *ACE2-binding activity of SL-CoVs was ****easily acquired**** by the replacement of a relatively small sequence segment of the S protein from the SARS-CoV S sequence.*
Easy-peasy.
*[Differences in Receptor Usage:](https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.01085-07?permanently=true) This work was jointly funded by .. ****a special fund**** from the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (no. 1009), the ****Knowledge Innovation Program**** Key Project (KSCX1-YW-R-07) to ****Z. Shi*** (Bat Lady),* .. and the ****Australian Biosecurity CRC**** for Emerging Infectious Diseases (project 1.026RE) to* ***L.-F. Wan*g** (the Dark Knight)
(Aside: This is how rabbit-holey everything is: ***CRC***, the funding arm for Linfa, was set up in **2002** (so pre-SARS) - one of its supporting members is *Consortium for Conservation Medicine* - which was one of Daszak’s & Epstein’s first incarnations of EcoHealth. What are they doing on an Australian bio-security org in 2002? [CRC:](https://www.publish.csiro.au/ma/pdf/ma03238) *The threats may be natural, accidental, or deliberate (as in ****bioterrorism****).* (CRC’s brackets))
So how did Linfa and Zhengli meet?
Their relationship, like most things Covid, goes back to SARS. Technically, Anthrax ignited the funding explosion, but SARS provided a new rallying point once it became clear the whole Anthrax bioterrorism attack [was literally](https://dulandrift.formosahut.com/books/anthrax-rap/page/who-dunnit) a(/some) Fort Detrick scientist(s) drumming up business for vaccines.
[Science:](https://www.science.org/content/article/biologist-helped-trace-sars-bats-now-hes-working-uncover-origins-covid-19) *After WHO declared the epidemic over in July 2003, it put together a mission of eight scientists, including Wang, to investigate the origins of the virus in China. *
Cool. Linfa was an original WHO investigator representing CSIRO, Australia. [Dominic E. Dwyer](http://formosahut.com/forum/index.php?id=2860) (Westmead, Aussie) was also a WHO investigator for SARS - wonder if he was one of the eight?
*[Science:](https://www.science.org/content/article/biologist-helped-trace-sars-bats-now-hes-working-uncover-origins-covid-19) Wang **had a hunch** bats could be the source, but the rest of the team was skeptical. At a meeting in Beijing, Wang met the head of WIV, who suggested he collaborate with a scientist at her institute: Shi Zhengli, who was then studying viruses in fish and shrimp.
*
Linfa:* She was the* ***only virologist who believed me**** and was willing to collaborate with me.
*
So a legend was born: Bat Lady & the Dark Knight. Bound by science - but also *belief*.
As Science notes, they took bat viruses from a fringe theory to an industry where *the two have co-authored **dozens** of papers*.
In 2005, they published a landmark paper with Daszak, Epstein (EHA) and other scientists from WIV/CSIRO, the [original Bat Packers](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1118391), titled *Bats are Natural Reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses -* which established their reputations in virology.
Zhengli & Linfa then shot to fame (along with Daszak) for *finding *the SARS-1 bat virus from the famous Yunnan caves. Though in fact, it was [nothing of the sort](http://formosahut.com/forum/index.php?mode=entry&id=2861) - less than 97% - same range as RaTG13 & the Lao sample but typical zoonati - never let facts get in the way of a good zoonosis narrative. As Linfa admits in a different article:
[Nature, Feb 26 2020:](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00548-w) *Even a 99% similarity between the RBDs of the two viruses is not necessarily enough to link them, says Linfa Wang, .. who was part of the team that* ***found the origin**** of the SARS virus.*
(A neat example of how blithely Nature pedals misinformation - If 99% isn’t definitive, then how does *nearly 97%* = *found the origin of SARS*?)
In 2006 Linfa won: *CSIRO Award for [Excellence in Partnership](https://globalhealth.duke.edu/sites/default/files/cv/cv-linfa_wang-jan2017.pdf), (SARS Team)* (with Bat Lady),
Together they launched a worldwide bat virus hunting movement (with Dazza coming on as PR guy), often funded under the PREDICT umbrella. They were especially attracted to the Yunnan caves - but also SE Asia & Africa - the [WIV website](http://english.whiov.cas.cn/About_Us2016/Address_from_the_Director2016/) from 2016 says: *WIV has also played a key role in the development of the CAS-African Research Center in Nairobi.* (What are they up to there i wonder?)
[NPR:](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/29/847948272/why-the-u-s-government-stopped-funding-a-research-project-on-bats-and-coronaviru) *Daszak says the China bat sampling project has already racked up [quite a number](http://formosahut.com/forum/index.php?id=2422) of successes (*to the tune of) *15,000 samples from bats.* *From these they have already **identified** ...about 50 (that) fall into a category that caused SARS and ... COVID-19,* including *[all the building blocks](http://formosahut.com/forum/index.php?mode=entry&id=2861) for SARS.*
Technically, i doubt Linfa was/is traipsing through the batcaves of SE Asia collecting samples - he doesn't like plants or animals for a start - Bat Lady does - loves the outdoors. Not Linfa's cup of tea though. His job starts when the samples get to the Bat Lab - that's where the magic begins.
So our duo are a slight odd couple - but they *are* old friends - and they do click:
[Science:](https://www.science.org/content/article/biologist-helped-trace-sars-bats-now-hes-working-uncover-origins-covid-19) *They also like to team up in karaoke bars to sing classic Chinese ballads, says Peter Daszak, a researcher at the EcoHealth Alliance, a New York City nonprofit, and a longtime collaborator with Wang and Shi.
*
Pete:* Linfa is an excellent singer and to see him and Shi Zhengli do a duet is very special.*
I’m sure it is! I’m wondering if we haven’t just seen a masterful performance.