Zoonotic Origins Hypothesis
Since the start of the pandemic, authorities have primarily promoted a origins theory of zoonotic transfer from an animal host to humans. A group of researchers going by the name D.R.A.S.T.I.C. has sought to counter what they consider a propaganda campaign by government, military, and industry to make it appear that the origins of SARS-CoV-2 are zoonotic.
Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China
In July 2022, Michael Worobey and a group of scientists which includes Angela Rasmussen, Kristian Anderson, others, published a paper collecting data from several sources suggesting that known cases of COVID-19 centered around the Huanan market.1)
Bat Coronaviruses
With the notable except of the spike protein, the genetric sequence that makes up SARS-CoV-2 is most highly similar to those of coronaviruses that have been found in bats.
In 2015, scientists including Ralph Baric and Shi Zhengli published a paper noting the existence of SARS-like coronaviruses showing “potential for human emergence”.2)
More recently, close coronavirus relatives to SARS-CoV-2 have been found in bats in Laos.3) Some scientists claim this bolsters to the zoonotic origins theory while giving no answers to the numerous critiques of that theory.4)
Pangolins
Conflicts of Interest
Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 origins debate, a great deal of information has surfaced regarding what at least stand out as conflicts of interest, if not outright corruption, among those defending theories of natural origins. At least $50 million in NIAID funding went to scientists instrumental in defending the natural origins hypothesis.5)
Charles Calisher
The National Pulse reported that Google funded Charles Calisher's research and had ties with EcoHealth Alliance.6)
Propaganda?
On July 17, 2021, The Lancet published an opinion piece by a group of authors that included Peter Daszak and Christian Drosten entitled “Science, not speculation, is essential to determine how SARS-CoV-2 reached humans”.7)
Related Research
- July 25, 2020 - Poudel et al: Animal coronaviruses and coronavirus disease 2019: Lesson for One Health approach.8)
1)
July 26, 2022 | Michael Worobey et al | Science (journal) | The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic | DOI: 10.1126/science.abp8715
2)
November 9, 2015 | Vineet Menachery et al | Nature Medicine | A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses
shows potential for human emergence | doi.org/10.1038/nm.3985))
The [[:RaTG13 betacoronavirus is the most highly similar coronavirus to SARS-CoV-2, sharing 98.7% identical mitochondrial rRNA, but was supposedly generated from a bat fecal swab, which strikes some scientists as unlikely since metagenomic analysis shows a small 10.3% bacterial rRNA in the dataset.((November 22, 2021 | Steven E Massey | preprint | arXiv:2111.09469
3)
September 17, 2021 | Temmam et al | preprint | DOI:
10.21203/rs.3.rs-871965/v1
4)
September 24, 2021 | Smriti Mallapaty | Nature | Closest known relatives of virus behind COVID-19 found in Laos
6)
April 21, 2022 | The National Pulse | REVEALED: Google Funded a Leading ‘Lab Leak’ Denier.
7)
July 17, 2021 | Calisher et al | The Lancet | DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01419-7
8)
July 25, 2020 | Poudel et al | Open Veterinary Journal | Animal coronaviruses and coronavirus disease 2019: Lesson for One Health approach