Question Number: 268
PDR Number: SQ22-000639
Date Submitted: 21/11/2022
Department or Body: Department of Health
Question 51 The Senator has referred to a manuscript which is a preliminary report of work that has not been certified by peer review. However, many proteins, including antibodies exhibit variable levels of glycosylation with no impact on safety or biological performance. We do not understand what the Senator means by “margin of error in trying to get the body to produce a protein safely”.
Question 285 The statement by the Senator is incorrect. SARS-CoV-2 virus does not have a furin gene. Rather, the spike protein is cleaved at the S1/S2 boundary (or furin cleavage site) by furin, which is an enzyme in the host. The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 directs infection of the lungs and other tissues following its binding to the ACE2 receptor. For effective infection, the spike protein is cleaved at two sites: S1/S2 and S2?. The “priming” of the surface spike protein at S1/S2 by furin has been shown to be important for SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in cells and small-animal models (available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32057769/).
