Posted by dan on August 12, 2020, 9:05 pm, in reply to "Dan - a question"
No idea. Genetically manipulating viral vectors is not run of the mill lab stuff - labs with double doors an airlock are not that common.
If they genuinely have got a vaccine ready already it's possible that at the time of MERS that they realised it would make a very useful bioweapon. Putin isn't stupid. He may well have invested in research into a system for rapid modification of pre existing vaccines to counter new old threats.
May well be a case of good leadership.
CRISPR-Cas9 has ushered in a brave new world of in situ gene editing. I've no idea what is now possible. If this has basis in truth https://www.google.com/amp/dilyana.bg/the-pentagon-bio-weapons/amp/ you can be sure resourceful Russian scientists are working on bio defence.