The Wuhan lab leak theory is more about politics than science

[Jilly_in_VA]

If Joe Biden’s security staff are up to the mark, a new report on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic will be placed on the president’s desk this week. His team was given 90 days in May to review the virus’s origins after several US scientists indicated they were no longer certain about the source of Sars-CoV-2.

It will be intriguing to learn how Biden’s team answers the critically important questions that still surround the origins of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Did it emerge because of natural viral spillovers from bats to another animal and then into humans? Or did it leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology? And, if so, had it been enhanced to make it especially virulent?

These are important questions – to say the least. If we want to prevent another pandemic, it would be very useful to know how this one started. However, given the paucity of new information Biden’s team will have unearthed over the past three months – while the Chinese authorities have continued to provide little extra data – it is unlikely hard answers will be provided this week.

Although allegations of a leak from the Wuhan institute had been aired by Donald Trump, and rejected flatly by the Chinese, little credence was given to the claim until May, when 18 leading scientists sent a letter to the journal Science in which they claimed both spillover and leak theories were equally plausible. They also accused a recent World Health Organization investigation at Wuhan of not giving a balanced consideration to both scenarios.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/22/the-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-is-more-about-politics-than-science
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But you'll never convince the deniers....or the RepubliQans!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Difference between natural spillover vs. accidental leak of natural form that was under study

Seem fairly academic, apart from the need to increase oversite and safety measures in virus labs.

I thought the 'purposefully weaponized' scenario had been eliminated as a possibility long ago, and I've not seen anything saying that's changed, but maybe I missed it.



Edit: The possibility that it was neither natural, nor weaponized, but rather a third case where a 'gain of function' sample that was under study that accidentally got released is probably pretty useful to know, however.

[PoliticAverse]

3. I am a believer in the natural origin theory because where it seems to have broken out...

- in a wet market - is precisely where a virus like this might naturally cross over but it is rather coincidental that a lab studying these types of viruses happens to be right in the same area.

[PoliticAverse]

2. No, belief in the theory may be more about politics but as the article states...

18 leading scientists sent a letter to the journal Science in which they claimed both spillover and leak theories were equally plausible.

that's scientists not politicians or political commentators.

There are people wanting to believe the lab leak theory for political reasons and there are people wanting to dismiss it for political reasons.

The best line in the article:

“As things currently stand, the evidence strongly suggests that Covid-19 arose after a natural spillover event, but nobody is yet in a position to rule out an alternative,”

There is no definitive answer yet.