
Dr. Fauci throws cold water on conspiracy theory Covid-19 came from Chinese lab - MilnerRoute
https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-throws-cold-water-conspiracy-theory-coronavirus-escaped-chinese-lab-2020-4
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wbraun
I really hate how the media keeps conflating the theories that the virus was
engineered and that the virus escaped from a lab. Even the title of this
article has been editorialized to conflate the two.

I mostly trust what people have said about the virus lacking signs of being
engineered or otherwise modified.

That the virus escaped from a lab is totally plausible and has precedent. It
is a shame it gets lumped in with the other theory. SARS escaped Chinese
research labs twice and there are many other instances worldwide of pathogens
escaping research labs.

~~~
MilnerRoute
Newsweek has specifically addressed just the "escaped from a lab" theory.

'Claim That Covid-19 Came From Lab In China Completely Unfounded Scientists
Say'

[https://www.newsweek.com/claim-that-coronavirus-came-lab-
chi...](https://www.newsweek.com/claim-that-coronavirus-came-lab-china-
completely-unfounded-scientists-say-1498308)

~~~
wbraun
Fundamentally, you are not going to find any direct evidence that the virus
came from a lab unless the virus has signs of being engineered (which seems to
not be the case).

Only in the last week or so major news organizations have started covering the
theory of lab escape of an unmodified pathogen. You can find tons or articles
arguing either way.

Given the fact that almost every city in China is going to have wet markets,
but Wuhan is one of the few (only?) cities to have labs researching these
types of viruses it would be irresponsible to not consider the possibility.
Given that the CCP is going to do the utmost to cover up any negative stories
you are never going to find any smoking gun level evidence.

~~~
MilnerRoute
Did you read the Newsweek article?

"The SARS-CoV-2 virus has some key differences in specific genes relative to
previously identified coronaviruses — the ones a laboratory would be working
with," said Adam Lauring, an associate professor at the University of Michigan
Medical School and an expert in the evolution of viruses.

~~~
wbraun
Again, there are many articles that argue either side of this. You can pick
and choose quotes however you like.

That being said, you don't believe that a lab that studies novel coronaviruses
could be studying a novel coronavirus? There is a history of pathogens
escaping labs and there are many more wet markets in other cities in China
than labs doing related research. As the simplest approximation just try
applying bayes rule.

Additionally, the CCP is an authoritarian regime with a strong motive to cover
things up. A refusal to even consider the possibility of a lab escape is
willful ignorance.

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SidenKniffsBids
It's not a "conspiracy theory", it's a theory; and a very possible one.

Lets look at the facts:

1\. The virus came from horseshoe bats, and this kind of bat was not sold at
the Wuhan market.

2\. The lab _was_ working on Corona viruses.

Maybe the virus was not bio-engineered, but there is a very very very real
possibility it came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

~~~
garmaine
Then why was the initial outbreak centered around the wet market, not the
research lab? A giant coincidence?

~~~
SidenKniffsBids
Its possible one person could have contracted the virus, then traveled to the
wet-market, which is about 20 miles away, then spent some time there shopping
there and passed it on to others.

Then again, it could have come from the wet market and it could be a
coincidence.

I don't want to make this into a left-wing vs right-wing thing.

~~~
pinkfoot
Perhaps you could make it a ‘listen to the professional epidemiologist’ thing?

~~~
SidenKniffsBids
No. There is no proof that it came from the wet market either. There are wet
markets all over China, how come this doesn't happen all the time?

Shit happens, somebody doesn't follow protocol and a virus escapes, how
unbelievable does that sound?

For the record, Dr. Fauci is not an epidemiologist, he's just a basic bitch
Dr.

~~~
dang
I've banned this account until we get some indication that you want to use HN
as intended. That would include not using a trollish username. You're welcome
to email hn@ycombinator.com if you don't want to be banned.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

