Been over this multiple times with people unawaredly regurgitating social media conspiracy theory spun out of "but x virologist says it came from human manufacture/a lab"
COVID: No, Coronavirus Wasn't Created In A Laboratory. Genetics Shows Why.
https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/09/15/co … -why-15029
https://nypost.com/2020/09/11/chinese-v … wuhan-lab/
China’s ‘bat woman’ says COVID-19 did not originate in Wuhan lab
https://nypost.com/2020/11/21/chinas-ba … wuhan-lab/
COVID: No, Coronavirus Wasn't Created In A Laboratory. Genetics Shows Why.
https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/09/15/co … -why-15029
But hey, don't let that stop you (or the guy who listens to alien conspiracies on the edge of their seat) from from developing independent conclusions for the sake of troll bigot humor in between complaining about your favorite restaurant's immigrant owner or your taxi driver.Several months ago, there was speculation that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, was created in a Chinese bioweapons laboratory. It's not true, but the conspiracy theory has gained renewed interest following a paper by a Hong Kong scientist who claims that, indeed, the virus is man-made.
This conspiracy theory is particularly tempting for several reasons. First, China is a secretive, authoritarian country, and it wouldn't really be much of a surprise if the government had a bioweapons program. Second, China has suppressed research on the origins of the coronavirus. Third, SARS-CoV-2 is really weird for a respiratory virus, since it has the ability to spread throughout the body and damage other organs. Combined, many people see a conspiracy.
But circumstantial evidence doesn't make it true. Either the coronavirus naturally worked its way into the human population or, if a Chinese laboratory really was involved, the virus was probably being studied by researchers and accidentally infected one of them. (This would explain why China wants to cover up the origin of the virus; if it escaped from a lab, Chinese scientists would look incompetent.) There is simply insufficient reason to believe that malicious forces were at play. An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary evidence, and the "man-made virus" theory fails that test.
Chinese virologist claims COVID was made in lab — but US studies don’t agreeThe Trouble with Pre-Print Papers wrote:
In a fast moving world, the scientific method drags along at a snail's pace. To keep up with the changing times, many scientists are now posting papers online without any peer review. The upside is that this allows the quick dissemination of vital information during a time like now (i.e., the COVID pandemic). The downside is that it allows a lot of garbage to make international headlines, throwing us off into a wild goose chase.
https://nypost.com/2020/09/11/chinese-v … wuhan-lab/
China’s ‘bat woman’ says COVID-19 did not originate in Wuhan lab
https://nypost.com/2020/11/21/chinas-ba … wuhan-lab/