Scientists Demand Investigation of Wuhan Lab-Leak Origin of Coronavirus
“A proper investigation should be transparent, objective, data-driven, inclusive of broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, and responsibly managed to minimize the impact of conflicts of interest.”
Legal Insurrection readers will note that since February, 2020 we have been covering reports regarding a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan, China being the origin of the coronavirus at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, veteran science writer Nicholas Wade recently published a detailed review of the pandemic, and made a persuasive case that a leak from a laboratory at the city’s Institute of Virology must be seriously considered as the original source of the contagion.
Now a group of 18 scientists have published in the journal Science argue that there is not yet enough evidence to rule out the possibility that the virus (i.e., SARS-CoV-2) escaped a lab in China, and they demand a “proper investigation” into the theory.
In a letter published Thursday in the journal Science, an international group of 18 biologists, immunologists and other scientists criticized the findings of a report released in March by a World Health Organization-led team into the pandemic’s origin and called for a more extensive evaluation of the two leading hypotheses: that the pandemic virus entered the human population and began spreading after escaping from a lab or after jumping to humans from infected animals.
The WHO-led team, which included scientists from China and several other countries, reported no definitive proof of either hypothesis. Yet, the scientists wrote, the team nevertheless concluded that an animal origin for the pandemic was the likelier scenario and devoted only four out of the report’s 313 pages to the possibility of a lab accident.
“We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data,” the scientists wrote in the letter.
The signatories include virologists who have experience with bat viruses, which are the pathogens that are most like the virus causing the global COVID19 pandemic.
The group of scientists includes several prominent virologists, including Dr. Ralph Baric, one of the world’s top experts on the genetic interplay between bat and human coronaviruses, and who has worked with the research lab in Wuhan, China that is at the center of most of the lab-leak theories. When Baric spoke with Baker, he said he believed that the coronavirus had probably originated in bats, then evolved in humans over time without being noticed before the pandemic began, but also added that laboratory escape “probably” could not be ruled out, either.
Another scientist in the group, Dr. Jesse Bloom, who studies the evolution of viruses at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, told the New York Times that more evidence was required to reach a definitive conclusion, and that those who have already come to any such conclusion are overreaching. “Most of the discussion you hear about SARS-CoV-2 origins at this point is coming from, I think, the relatively small number of people who feel very certain about their views,” he said to the Times. “Anybody who’s making statements with a high level of certainty about this is just outstripping what’s possible to do with the available evidence.”
The letter also included a harsh assessment of the analysis offered by the World Health Organization (WHO) team’s assessment of the coronavirus origins, which was conducted with robust oversight by Chinese officials. The scientists demanded a proper investigation be conducted.
“The two theories were not given balanced consideration. Only 4 of the 313 pages of the report and its annexes addressed the possibility of a laboratory accident,” the letter published from the health experts reads.
“Notably, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus commented that the report’s consideration of evidence supporting a laboratory accident was insufficient and offered to provide additional resources to fully evaluate the possibility.”
…“A proper investigation should be transparent, objective, data-driven, inclusive of broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, and responsibly managed to minimize the impact of conflicts of interest.”
There is clearly a growing consensus that the possibility of a lab-leak from a Wuhan facility is a reasonable possibility and not some xenophobic hysteria designed to gin-up hatred against Asians.
Good luck getting the Chinese Communist Party leadership to agree with the science.
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Comments
“Anybody who’s making statements with a high level of certainty about this is just outstripping what’s possible to do with the available evidence.”
The actions of the Chinese, alone, reinforces the lab theory. If it was natural, one would think China would have fallen over itself to share information.
Nicholas Wade made the most sense, but these rumblings are not new.
Beyond the issue of intentional release which I don’t buy is unintentional release. This seems to be the simplest explanation and the lack of transparency and stonewalling from China would be bad enough. Couple that with the intentional delay in releasing information to the world and it seems, IMO, that the silence answers the the question very adequately.
All protocols are a pain in the ass. The workers have to do it correctly 100% of the time or a compromise can occur. Just like getting pregnant, it only takes once…..
Much ado has been made of NIH funding of WIV gain of function research, but scientists never rely on one source of funding or one grant. Keeping a lab solvent requires many funding sources. I’m sure the WIV scientists had many overlapping projects working with the same family of viruses. I wonder if they were developing a virus for eventual intentional release in a military or covert action program, perhaps in the USA or on a plane right before the US election or before a Taiwan invasion, and it got away from them early before it was fully developed? If this is the case we should be glad the Chinese researchers were so sloppy.
Chinese published documents, what we don’t know and why we don’t know, who was put in charge of the lab, measuers taken and not taken by China, collectively paint a pretty compelling reason to think this was intentional and a trial act of war.
We should completely end all dependencies related to China. Trade should be limited to low value products.
How would you propose ending a dependency on China? That’s big question, a lot of people including myself are sympathetic to the idea but it would involve years and years of building up an economy that supports that kind of idea. I’ve no idea of its even economically feasible. Is there any good analysis of the issues?
Mark,
Start narrowly and gradually widen the scope as domestic manufacturing capability is ‘reshored’ or built anew.
Start with military purchase contracts. Proceed to government wide purchase contracts. This gives manufacturers a floor of an increasing base level of demand in order to make the necessary investments in plant and equipment.
Another example could be revamping certain tax credits. Limit the tax credits for solar components to US manufactured components. Start with something like 25% then ramp up to 100% of US manufactured components over a period of time as domestic capacity increases.
The federal government spends a great deal of money. Tying those purchases to domestic manufacturing seems like an easy solution using an escalating % as capacity increases.
Particularly when we want to build and maintain that domestic manufacturing capacity in key areas; pharmaceuticals, CPU, routers, servers ECT. Same for critical strategic products.
Before any such investigation has any chance, it will be necessary to remove the Fauci team that created and funded this “experiment”. So long as they continue to be in power, they will never allow real scientists to go anywhere near any investigation. And then there are our dirty to the core politicians that were/are involved. It’s just like with the Democrats who can always count on the GOP squishes to circle the wagons to protect them when they get in trouble.
But having scientists finally getting organized and showing some spine to call for an investigation is a good start. Now follow it up with why Fauci and his minions must NOT be involved.
Translation: the wuhan virus came from wuhan
Bats have been handled in wet markets in the same mid-evil manner with zero hygiene since…forever. No social distancing and no cloth masks!!!!
BUT ONLY IN 2019 did this highly deadly and highly contagious virus jump from animal to human in a wet market (right next to a lab working on the same stuff) and spread across the globe.
If you’ll buy that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
oh and the attack on Benghazi was because of a youtube video.