There was an attempt at debunking the lab leak theory early on with a nature article saying we do not believe any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible. Then there was a rejected DARPA research proposal detailing exactly how the laboratory-based scenario is possible.

Lab origin has not been proven but there is no natural zoonotic path to Wuhan. Lab encouraged gain of function with in species reproduction seems most likely.

Half the US intelligence agencies support the lab origin theory.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (3 children)

there is no natural zoonotic path to Wuhan

How do you get from "we don't think the disease naturally originated in Wuhan" to "China engineered a virus, released it in their own city, and then used that as a vector for malicious infection of the rest of the world"?

Half the US intelligence agencies support the lab origin theory.

They also insisted Iraq had nuclear weapons.

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[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 point 1 month ago (2 children)

How do you get from "we don't think the disease naturally originated in Wuhan" to "China engineered a virus, released it in their own city, and then used that as a vector for malicious infection of the rest of the world"?

I didn't. You invented all of that.

We know the EcoHealth Alliance had a gain of function research proposal that would have produced a virus remarkably similar to covid was rejected for funding by DARPA.
We also know that NIH approved under the grant to EcoHealth Alliance with a subaward to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China sought to understand how animal coronaviruses, especially bat coronaviruses, evolve naturally in the environment and have the potential to become transmissible to the human population.
We know Covid originated in Wuhan.

Accidents happen even in level 4 biolabs. The is no need for you to be sinophobic.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 child)

We know Covid originated in Wuhan.

That's never been confirmed.

Neither has the "no natural zoonotic path" bit, incidentally.

Accidents happen even in level 4 biolabs.

And we're back to Wuhan Lab Leak Theory.

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[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

A natural zoonotic path does not (yet) exist. It is correct to say none has been found.

the Huanan Market in Wuhan was the early and main epicentre of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.

There you are.

there is no indication that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had studied viruses similar to SARS‐CoV‐2 or artificially modified coronaviruses before the COVID‐19 pandemic

This part of the paper is out of date. We now know there was a subaward to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, to understand how bat coronaviruses have the potential to become transmissible to the human population.

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[–] jonzobot@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago* (2 children)

I think there's just not enough information to say with confidence one way or the other. Biden commissioned a report that was inconclusive, in part because of non-cooperation from the Chinese government. From Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assessment_on_COVID-19_Origins

Updated Assessment on COVID-19 Origins is a report of the United States Intelligence Community regarding the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which was commissioned on May 26, 2021, by President Joe Biden and submitted on August 24.[1]

Biden initially ordered his intelligence services to "redouble efforts" to investigate the virus's origin.[2] The report, which was released on August 27, noted that the Intelligence Community did not reach a unanimous conclusion on the origin of the virus, with four agencies determining that the index case was likely a result of natural exposure, with another agency considering it as the result of a laboratory incident, although the community overall agreed that it was not linked to biological warfare. The community concluded that a conclusive investigation would require cooperation with the Chinese government.[1][3] Analysts considered that the investigation proved incapable of reaching a definitive conclusion on the origins of COVID-19, and the report was criticized by Chinese officials.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world -1 points 1 month ago (1 child)

Biden commissioned a report that was inconclusive, in part because of non-cooperation from the Chinese government.

Wasn't the United States involved in spreading misinformation about Chinese COVID vaccines at the time of this research?

The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation.

Reuters identified at least 300 accounts on X, formerly Twitter, that matched descriptions shared by former U.S. military officials familiar with the Philippines operation.

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[–] jonzobot@lemmy.ca 1 point 1 month ago*

If true, that does not address the point that the necessary facts aren't known, and therefore one can't conclusively know whether the source of the virus is natural transmission or a lab leak.

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[–] x0x7@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

This has nothing to do with lab leak theory. This is what China actually did. They think in terms of comparison with other countries and they didn't want to be the only country with covid, regardless of the origin.

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[–] GardenGeek@europe.pub 2 points 1 month ago

China continues to withhold data from the WHO regarding the outbreak in Wuhan. That in itself is not proof, but now, seven years into the pandemic, I personally find it suspicious. The other indicators supporting the lab-origin theory are well known. Aside from the incompetence of the Trump I administration, it seems that some intelligence agencies still subscribe to this theory.

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