Biology experts say that a meaningful and comprehensive investigation to find the origin of covid-19 must be considered. The research will shed light on whether or not the virus came out of a lab, The New York Times reports.
Scientists already condemned the idea of the virus being created through a laboratory accident. It was tagged as conspiracy theorists by the world's most recognized experts and organizations. NPR stated in a previous report that the virus might have been transmitted between people and animals, like any other outbreaks, including SARS and Ebola.
In reference to NPR's talk with various experts, the experiment conducted has shown pieces of evidence that the virus did not come from a laboratory accident. In addition, a natural specimen, specifically the virus genomes of animals, helps confirm that covid-19 did not come from any laboratories and further proves that it is natural.
But now, the tables have turned. Scientists now call for more broad research to identify if the pandemic is a mere laboratory freak accident.
Coronavirus is Natural
The origin of coronavirus was already traced back to Yunnan, province of China. According to the published study by Plos Pathogens entitled "Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus", the 2003 SARS outbreak could be linked to animals, more specifically of horseshoe bats.
The said research took almost a decade to track down the origin of SARS, a type of coronavirus.
Another published NCBI study conducted by China's Wuhan Institute of Virology established that the virus came from natural origins.
The research entitled "Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 isolate Wuhan-Hu-1, complete genome" shows that the new coronavirus has matched 96% with the genome structure of the same bats that were initially found in Yunnan.
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Covid-19 Possible Product of Laboratory Leak
Experts say in a recent journal Science letter that, contrary to the public's common knowledge, the pandemic may have been a product of a lab leak instead of a natural origin. Accordion to the said journal letter, a news study must be conducted, considering Chinese laboratories to share their records and point all possible roots of covid-19.
Among the 18 biologists who signed the challenge letter is Harvard University epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch. He stated that the World Health Organization's findings regarding the virus origin don't lead to anything.
Lipsitch shared that WHO's 313 pages were all fluff and can't point out the first transmission of the virus from animals to humans, as no current evidence of the first contact had been established. This fueled another search to identify the true, specific beginning of the virus.
The possibility of a new search for covid-19's starting point will tell if the virus were genetically altered to heighten its infectious properties, contrary to the hasty and poorly detailed research WHO papers, which in Lipsitch's view, did not express interest in the genesis of the virus and instead chose to focus on vaccine trials.
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