Tuesday, June 2, 2020

The New Bat Virus Study

Here is a report about a comprehensive analysis of bat-borne viruses:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/nih-halted-study-unveils-its-massive-analysis-bat-coronaviruses

It contains these interesting claims:

They found a Rhinolophus coronavirus that was 96.2% identical in sequence to SARS-CoV-2, the closest relative yet found, but calculations suggest it would take decades for that bat virus to mutate into the new human pathogen.

The leading theory for the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is that a bat virus long ago jumped into another species, where it then mutated into a variant that later infected humans.

Is that believable?

Or is it more likely that one or more of these viruses was manipulated in the lab and then "escaped" into the human population?

It would be much easier to believe Shi Zheng-Li if the original virus samples had NOT been destroyed and if China wasn't known for punishing whistleblowers.

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