Scientists ignored lab link theory for Covid

Sir Patrick Vallance was one of scientists behind paper that removed mention of biosecurity issues in Wuhan

Scientists including Sir Patrick Vallance were warned that Covid-19 could have evolved in laboratory animals, but collaborated in a paper that shut down the lab leak theory, newly released emails have revealed after an FOI request. The paper, “The proximal origin of SARS-COV-2”, published in Nature Medicine in March 2020, argued that a natural spillover event caused the pandemic, and was hugely instrumental in stifling debate into the origins of the virus.

TOP scientists including Sir Patrick Vallance were warned that Covid-19 could have evolved in laboratory animals, but collaborated in a paper that shut down the lab leak theory, it has emerged.

The paper, “The proximal origin of SARS-COV-2”, published in Nature Medicine in March 2020, argued that a natural spillover event caused the pandemic, and was hugely instrumental in stifling debate into the origins of the virus.

But newly released emails from early 2020 show that in the weeks before publication, the authors held lengthy discussions with experts, including Sir Patrick and Sir Jeremy Farrar, the head of the Wellcome Trust.

The emails were released following a Freedom of Information request by James Tobias, a freelance journalist.

In those discussions, experts were advised that the unusual features seen in Covid-19 could have evolved in animals in a lab, as well as in the wild.

They were also warned that the

Wuhan Institute of Virology had been carrying out research on bat coronaviruses at worrying levels of biosecurity.

Yet by the time the paper was published, all reference to biosecurity problems in Wuhan had been removed and the authors argued that lab evolution of the virus was unlikely.

Questions have arisen around the drafting and formulation of the paper since its publication. The lead author, Prof Kristian Andersen, of the Scripps

Research Institute in California, had earlier told colleagues that features of the virus looked as though they’d been engineered in a lab.

But no mention of this was made in the paper.

Sir Jeremy, director of Wellcome, said: “In my view, the scientific evidence continues to point to SARS-COV-2 crossing from animals to humans as the most likely scenario.

“However, as the efforts to gather evidence continue, it is important to stay open-minded and work together internationally to understand the emergence of Covid and variant strains – to end this pandemic and reduce the risks of future events.”

A Government Office for Science spokesman said: “The government chief scientific adviser promotes full transparency and an open exchange of ideas and scientific opinion as the email exchange reflects.”