Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
WSJ is reporting on it. WaPo and New York Magazine have now written on the lab theory.
It was Nicholas Wade's long and wonderful article in Medium that convinced me COVID really came from the lab. Wade, by the way, is a former 30 year veteran science journalist in the NYT.
Having said the above, I always thought it was very reasonable to think COVID escaped from the Wuhan lab as early as last winter, and so did quite a few people. It was impressive to see how quickly certain partisan perspectives tried to shut down any lab escape theories to the point they made themselves fools for doing so.
The real question is why were some forces (news, government officials, political parties) so desperate to portray any lab escape theory as crackpot and conspiracist when it, in fact, seemed to be the most plausible theory all along?
Great question. They went out of their way to discredit, censor, and ruin the reputations of people who dared suggest the lab. Why?
Well for one if it came from a lab we can all decide if this is what we want to do and if we want to do it in a medium level safety lab (BSL2) or do we want to require something more stringent (BSL3/4). Or do we want to not do research at all on GOF for possible future viral outbreaks… The scientist argue that these viruses would eventually happen anyways in nature and that we’re gaining a better understanding regarding creating vaccines for future outbreaks.
If it didn’t come from a lab that might be even more worrisome considering at any time we could have a viral outbreak that cost the globe $20+ trillion.
So no matter what happens it’s important to figure out as much of the where as to how, when, why…
In the case of SARS1, researchers have documented the successive changes in its spike protein as the virus evolved step by step into a dangerous pathogen. After it had gotten from bats into civets, there were six further changes in its spike protein before it became a mild pathogen in people. After a further 14 changes, the virus was much better adapted to humans, and with a further four, the epidemic took off.
But when you look for the fingerprints of a similar transition in SARS2, a strange surprise awaits. The virus has changed hardly at all, at least until recently. From its very first appearance, it was well adapted to human cells.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
