Delta variant proves Covid-19 lab leak theory is ‘extremely unlikely’, says scientist
- Evolutionary biologist slams ‘school kids’ politics over Covid-19 origins and says scientists should be ‘more circumspect’
- Lingering questions over role of Wuhan institute should be addressed, asserts virologist
Childish squabbles over the origins of Covid-19 are distracting the public and researchers from more urgent work, a scientist said, as a peer called for answers to lingering questions about the virus research carried out at a laboratory at the centre of the controversy.
“For us to spend so much time and energy on this low probability event, we look like a bunch of school kids fighting in the playground. We’re not trying to solve anything … It’s a complete waste of time,” Wu said at the seminar on Wednesday.
The example of the Delta variant, which is spreading globally and has undergone multiple mutations on the basis of the wild strain of Covid-19, shows it is highly unlikely that researchers could just tinker with the virus to add a few mutations and expect it to become super efficient at infecting the human population, Wu argued.
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“The virus has to go through a very long process to become extremely well-adapted to human conditions,” he said.
“It’s inconceivable either through lab synthesis or through taking a virus from nature, from any animal, and releasing it into the human population and expecting it to burn through the population. I consider it extremely unlikely.