From the comments -
Phillip B Flexom
Feb 28
'As an MD and also having an advanced degree in population genetics and evolutionary biology,I think your positions are mistaken. This virus almost certainly underwent modificatins in a lab prior to its emergence as a worldwide pathogen. One can call it "gain of function". I for one do not feel gain of function research is all bad; in fact under its broad definition we are foolish to let politicians define what research can and can not be done as I see no other way we can keep one step ahead of epidemics. Having said this, it must be done with great caution. Was this some sort of intentional leak; i feel not likely. But you appear foolish to hold on to the theory this jumped from bats to humans in the Wuhan wet market. The Covid spike protien's super strong affinity to the human ACE-2 receptor as well as the furin cleavage site show almost certain modification. This ia a case where epidemiologists need to defer to geneticists and evolutionary biologists. The mere fact that the laboratory records from Wuhan appear to have been purged is pretty incriminating. And to date, no matching Covid virus has yet to have been found in any bat in the world. Similar DNA to other bat coronviruses does not cut it. I would remind you we share over 96% of of our human genome with a chimpanzees but we are an entirely distinct species. Covid -19 most likely emerged from an unfortunate lab leak.'

For my 2 cents worth the lab idea is another way too many of us use to avoid reality. The damage cause by too many of us gets a lot of rolling eyeballs, but it is real and applicable to every life form on the planet. Zoonotic pathogins are real and our infatuation with meat and confining animals is close quarters will only exacerbate this issue. Recently, millions of chickens had to be slaughtered due to an outbreak of Avian Flu "As demand for eggs has risen, production in the U.S. has slumped because of the ongoing bird, or "avian," flu epidemic. Nearly 58 million birds have been infected with avian flu as of January 6, the USDA said, making it the deadliest outbreak in U.S. history. Infected birds must be slaughtered, causing egg supplies to fall and prices to surge." Putting animals (we are part of this group) in close quarters often causes epidemics and pandemics. This will not stop and, I suspect (as do many scientists) it will only get worse. We continue to look to the river in Egypt (de Nile) for explanations.

Every Rethug is jumping on the Energy Dept. report that a "Leak is probable" at the Wuhan lab. What they're not reporting is that the report has a "Low Confidence" grade on the source information.