A new report by Senate Republicans presents a comprehensive case for the theory that COVID originated from a lab accident but it lacks evidence, leaving the debate unsettled.
by Senate Republicans lays out one of the most comprehensive public cases to date for the theory that COVID originated from a lab accident, but its reliance on circumstantial evidence means the debate is far from settled.The report focuses largely on missing data and signs of biosafety issues that require interpretation.
"Genetic analysis of published SARS-CoV-2 sequences from the early outbreak does not show evidence of genetic adaptation reflecting passage through susceptible animal species such as a palm civet, raccoon dog or mink. To this end, no intermediate host has been identified," the executive summary of the report argues.
"Although no evidence was found that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology sold experimental animals rather than destroying them, there is precedent for such behavior in China," the report writes. "Thus, the possible escape of an infected experimental animal from the WIV is a plausible explanation for causing the first human infections."
"The convergence of sophisticated coronavirus research, government demands for scientific breakthroughs, and biosafety problems at the WIV appears to have peaked in the late-summer or early-fall of 2019," it adds.The data presented in the report "does not seem like reports of biosafety incidents. They seem like normal maintenance and procedures of a biocontainment laboratory," Rasmussen said.
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