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Leading British and US scientists thought it was likely that Covid accidentally leaked from a laboratory but were concerned that further debate would harm science in China, emails show.
An email from Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, on February 2 2020 said that “a likely explanation” was that Covid had rapidly evolved from a Sars-like virus inside human tissue in a low-security lab.
The email, to Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Francis Collins of the US National Institutes of Health, went on to say that such evolution may have “accidentally created a virus primed for rapid transmission between humans”.
But a leading scientist told Sir Jeremy that “further debate would do unnecessary harm to science in general and science in China in particular”. Dr Collins, the former director of the US National Institutes of Health, warned it could damage “international harmony”.
Viscount Ridley, co-author of Viral: the search for the origin of Covid, said: “These emails show a lamentable lack of openness and transparency among Western scientists who appear to have been more interested in shutting down a hypothesis they thought was very plausible, for political reasons.”
In the emails, Sir Jeremy said that other scientists also believed the virus could not have evolved naturally. One such scientist was Professor Mike Farzan, of Scripps Research, the expert who discovered how the original Sars virus binds to human cells.
www.telegraph.co.uk
In Major Shift, NIH Admits Funding Risky Virus Research in Wuhan
A spokesman for Dr. Fauci says he has been “entirely truthful,” but a new letter belatedly acknowledging the National Institutes of Health’s support for virus-enhancing research adds more heat to the ongoing debate over whether a lab leak could have sparked the pandemic.
We do however know at least one thing, that the official story of it coming from a bat at a market in Wuhan is unlikely, because they didn't sell them nor do they live near Wuhan.
"In 2002, horseshoe bats were sold in China’s wet markets and are thought to have jumped to humans from there. By 2019, horseshoe bats were no longer sold in the wet markets. Nor do they live in the wild near Wuhan. As Chinese researcher Huabin Zhao, Department of Ecology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University. Pointed out in Science, “COVID-19 was linked to horseshoe bats, which do not hibernate in cities in China.” They are used in biomedical research, however, and Wuhan, the city in which COVID-19 originated, has two such labs."
"Researchers investigating the virus’s origins speculate a scientist may have been bitten by a bat and become infected."
An email from Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, on February 2 2020 said that “a likely explanation” was that Covid had rapidly evolved from a Sars-like virus inside human tissue in a low-security lab.
The email, to Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Francis Collins of the US National Institutes of Health, went on to say that such evolution may have “accidentally created a virus primed for rapid transmission between humans”.
But a leading scientist told Sir Jeremy that “further debate would do unnecessary harm to science in general and science in China in particular”. Dr Collins, the former director of the US National Institutes of Health, warned it could damage “international harmony”.
Viscount Ridley, co-author of Viral: the search for the origin of Covid, said: “These emails show a lamentable lack of openness and transparency among Western scientists who appear to have been more interested in shutting down a hypothesis they thought was very plausible, for political reasons.”
In the emails, Sir Jeremy said that other scientists also believed the virus could not have evolved naturally. One such scientist was Professor Mike Farzan, of Scripps Research, the expert who discovered how the original Sars virus binds to human cells.
Scientists believed Covid leaked from Wuhan lab - but feared debate could hurt ‘international harmony’
Emails to Dr Anthony Fauci show ‘likely’ explanation identified at start of coronavirus pandemic, but there were worries about saying so
www.telegraph.co.uk
In Major Shift, NIH Admits Funding Risky Virus Research in Wuhan
A spokesman for Dr. Fauci says he has been “entirely truthful,” but a new letter belatedly acknowledging the National Institutes of Health’s support for virus-enhancing research adds more heat to the ongoing debate over whether a lab leak could have sparked the pandemic.
We do however know at least one thing, that the official story of it coming from a bat at a market in Wuhan is unlikely, because they didn't sell them nor do they live near Wuhan.
"In 2002, horseshoe bats were sold in China’s wet markets and are thought to have jumped to humans from there. By 2019, horseshoe bats were no longer sold in the wet markets. Nor do they live in the wild near Wuhan. As Chinese researcher Huabin Zhao, Department of Ecology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University. Pointed out in Science, “COVID-19 was linked to horseshoe bats, which do not hibernate in cities in China.” They are used in biomedical research, however, and Wuhan, the city in which COVID-19 originated, has two such labs."
"Researchers investigating the virus’s origins speculate a scientist may have been bitten by a bat and become infected."
Compare Update: 2003 SARS Pandemic Versus 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic | BioSpac
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