Current Events > A top virologist says there was no evidence the coronavirus came from Wuhan lab

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1404443942825902084?s=21

Uh that's why they're looking for evidence

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*top virologist who works at the lab in question

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A top virologist says there was no evidence

Because it was destroyed, obviously.
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chinese ccp virologist who will be killed if she tells the truth gtfo man

A Top Virologist in China, at Center of a Pandemic Storm, Speaks Out
The virologist, Shi Zhengli, said in a rare interview that speculation about her lab in Wuhan was baseless. But Chinas habitual secrecy makes her claims hard to validate.

Shi Zhengli, a top Chinese virologist, is once again at the center of clashing narratives about her research on coronaviruses at a state lab in Wuhan,the city where the pandemic first emerged.
The idea that the virus may have escaped from a lab had long been widely dismissed by scientists as implausible and shunned by others for its connection with former President Donald J. Trump. But fresh scrutiny from the Biden administration and calls for greater candor from prominent scientists have brought the theory back to the fore.

Scientists generally agree that there is still no direct evidence to support the lab leak theory. But more of them now say that the hypothesis was dismissed too hastily, without a thorough investigation, and they point to a range of unsettling questions.

Some scientists say Dr. Shi conducted risky experiments with bat coronaviruses in labs that were not safe enough. Others want clarity on reports, citing American intelligence, suggesting that there were early infections of Covid-19 among several employees of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Dr. Shi has denied these accusations, and now finds herself defending the reputation of her lab and, by extension, that of her country. Reached on her cellphone two weeks ago, Dr. Shi said at first that she preferred not to speak directly with reporters, citing her institutes policies. Yet she could barely contain her frustration.

How on earth can I offer up evidence for something where there is no evidence? she said, her voice rising in anger during the brief, unscheduled conversation. I dont know how the world has come to this, constantly pouring filth on an innocent scientist, she wrote in a text message.
In a rare interview over email, she denounced the suspicions as baseless, including the allegations that several of her colleagues may have been ill before the outbreak emerged.

The speculation boils down to one central question: Did Dr. Shis lab hold any source of the new coronavirus before the pandemic erupted? Dr. Shis answer is an emphatic no.
But Chinas refusal to allow an independent investigation into her lab, or to share data on its research, make it difficult to validate Dr. Shis claims and has only fueled nagging suspicions about how the pandemic could have taken hold in the same city that hosts an institute known for its work on bat coronaviruses.
Those in favor of the natural origins hypothesis, though, have pointed to Wuhans role as a major transportation hub as well as a recent study that showed that just before the pandemic hit, the citys markets were selling many animal species capable of harboring dangerous pathogens that could jump to humans.

The Chinese government has given no appearance of holding Dr. Shi under suspicion. Despite the international scrutiny, she seems to have been able to continue her research and give lectures in China.
The stakes in this debate extend into how scientists study infectious diseases. Some scientists have cited the lab leak scenario in pushing for greater scrutiny of gain of function experiments that, broadly defined, are intended to make pathogens more powerful to better understand their behavior and risks.

Many scientists say they want the hunt for the viruss origins to transcend politics, borders and individual scientific achievements.
This has nothing to do with fault or guilt, said David Relman, a microbiologist at Stanford University and co-author of a recent letter in the journal Science, signed by 18 scientists, that called for a transparent investigation into all viable scenarios, including a lab leak. The letter urged labs and health agencies to open their records to the public.
Its just bigger than any one scientist or institute or any one country anybody anywhere who has data of this sort needs to put it out there, Dr. Relman said.
Transparency matters.

Many virologists maintain that the coronavirus most likely jumped from an animal to a human in a setting outside a lab. But without direct proof of a natural spillover, more scientists and politicians have called for a full investigation into the lab leak theory.
Proponents of a lab investigation say that researchers at Dr. Shis institute could have collected or contracted the new coronavirus from the wild, such as in a bat cave. Or the scientists may have created it, by accident or by design. Either way, the virus could then have leaked from the laboratory, perhaps by infecting a worker.

China has sought to influence investigations into the viruss origin, while promoting its own unproven allegations.

Beijing agreed to allow a team of World Health Organization experts to visit China, but limited their access. When the W.H.O. team said in a report in March that a lab leak was extremely unlikely, its conclusion was seen as hasty. Even the head of the W.H.O., Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: I do not believe that this assessment was extensive enough.
Last month, President Biden ordered intelligence agencies to investigate the origin question, including the lab theory. On Sunday, the leaders of the worlds wealthiest large democracies, at the Group of 7 summit, urged China to be part of a new investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. Mr. Biden told reporters that he and other leaders had discussed access to labs in China.
Transparency matters across the board, Mr. Biden said.
Scientists have a motherland.

In less polarized times, Dr. Shi was a symbol of Chinas scientific progress, at the forefront of research into emerging viruses.
She led expeditions into caves to collect samples from bats and guano, to learn how viruses jump from animals to humans. In 2019, she was among 109 scientists elected to the American Academy of Microbiology for her contributions to the field.

WingsOfGood posted...

The virologist, Shi Zhengli, said in a rare interview that speculation about her lab in Wuhan was baseless.

"We've investigated ourselves and found nothing wrong"
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This lab theory is the dumbest shit and we shouldn't be giving it any thought this far into the pandemic. But here we are.
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Is this the WHO who said this and also admitted China wouldn't tell them anything about the lab as well?

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Smashingpmkns posted...

This lab theory is the dumbest shit and we shouldn't be giving it any thought this far into the pandemic. But here we are.

Because the bat theory is so amazing

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Irony posted...

Because the bat theory is so amazing

A virus originating at a wet market makes a million times more sense, yes.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

A virus originating at a wet market makes a million times more sense, yes.

A million times more sense than a lab that was actively experimenting with coronaviruses, sure
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Could be, could not be.

But don't let that stop conspiracy theorists from doing victory laps about how it's been proven the virus, which is also a hoax, is a bioweapon that came from the Wuhan lab.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

A virus originating at a wet market makes a million times more sense, yes.

Considering how long wet markets have been a thing, not likely

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Godnorgosh posted...

We have dormant viruses in forested and glacial regions just waiting to be released, it's pretty likely we go through this whole song and dance, or a similar one, again at some point

You mean Greenland has been engineering a bioweapon in an ice lab and will be deliberately releasing it soon to destroy capitalism?

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Irony posted...

Considering how long wet markets have been a thing, not likely

Infectious diseases are a huge reason why wet markets have been criticized for a very long time.
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Irony posted...

Considering how long wet markets have been a thing, not likely

What?

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Smashingpmkns posted...

This lab theory is the dumbest shit and we shouldn't be giving it any thought this far into the pandemic. But here we are.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/

Two years before the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the world, U.S. Embassy officials visited a Chinese research facility in the city of Wuhan several times and sent two official warnings back to Washington about inadequate safety at the lab, which was conducting risky studies on coronaviruses from bats. The cables have fueled discussions inside the U.S. government about whether this or another Wuhan lab was the source of the virus even though conclusive proof has yet to emerge.

If the lab is going to continue to receive international funding and work with other labs on data sharing, it's worth figuring out whether they fucked up (again) on failing safety standards. Try to remind yourself that there's a difference between "lab leak" and "engineered bioweapon".

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You forgot the word her behind wuhan

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There are some theories it came from a US lab too so we have to investigate that too

lifespeedrunner posted...

There are some theories it came from a US lab too so we have to investigate that too

Yes, I too believe that we should be investigating every possibility into the origin of a virus that causes a worldwide pandemic

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lifespeedrunner posted...

There are some theories it came from a US lab too so we have to investigate that too

is this a shab alt?