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Nobel laureate: Lab leak theory of coronavirus demonizes science
CGTN
A new study conducted by a group of 21 international scientists supports the natural origin of the coronavirus. /CFP

A new study conducted by a group of 21 international scientists supports the natural origin of the coronavirus. /CFP

The conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was leaked from a lab, which has been repeatedly refuted and denounced by scientists from different countries since last year, has gained traction again since May, with another round of intense hyping of the narrative by Western media.

Following a new study by a group of 21 international scientists on the origin of SARS-CoV-2, Australian Nobel laureate professor Peter Doherty, one of the authors, criticized proponents of the "lab leak" hypothesis, which he said was "people demonizing science."

He told The Medical Public that all the evidence points to the virus crossing into humans from animals, probably bats.

Their conclusion is in line with the findings of the World Health Organization (WHO) report released after a four-week field trip study in Wuhan, which supported the natural origin hypothesis and clearly stressed it was "extremely unlikely" that the COVID-19 virus was leaked from a lab.

The study, published on the non-peer-reviewed preprint server Zenodo, examined the existing evidence on when, where and how the virus emerged in humans.

SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh coronavirus that has infected humans in the past 20 years. The authors noted that all previous human coronaviruses had zoonotic origins, and the novel coronavirus bore all the hallmarks to previous coronaviruses.

Doherty said the narrative hyped by the media that the virus was engineered and leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology was part of the anti-science movement, which came from some needing there to be a "bad guy" in the pandemic. "We can't blame nature because that's out of our control."

He highlighted that infection control measures in laboratories such as those at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were incredibly rigorous.

"The Wuhan lab operates at best practice," he said.  

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