The Wuhan Institute of Virology of Chinese Academy of Sciences is at the center of a controversy. With China's first biosafety-level-4 lab, it has been a focus of suspicion and conspiracy theories since the COVID-19 outbreak began in the city. Our reporter Feng Yilei talked to the director of the Chinese academy of sciences's Wuhan branch, also a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, for more on the laboratory's work.

YUAN ZHIMING Researcher, Wuhan Institute of Virology Director, Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory "I can understand, especially during a severe outbreak, when people want you to come into play but you appear to be so quiet, and they will have to wonder what role the virus institute is playing in this epidemic."

FENG YILEI Wuhan "How many teams and researchers at the institute are engaged in emergency scientific research at present? How are they doing now? And have any of them been infected?"

YUAN ZHIMING Researcher, Wuhan Institute of Virology Director, Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory  "I can tell you for sure that none of our students, retirees, or any of our staff has been infected. A group of staff members chose to stay in Wuhan during the lockdown, which guaranteed that our work was in full swing during the Chinese New Year break. I can hardly count how many teams there are right now. Because now the whole institute is carrying out research in different areas related to the coronavirus. We have major teams in drug development, vaccine research, pathogenesis, and of course some answer the basic questions, including the origin of the virus and the general characteristics of the virus, which is one of our strengths. Some work on the structure of the virus, and the immune responses to it. We've devoted ourselves to the research of it since the outbreak began."

FENG YILEI Wuhan "Do any of the investigations show that the virus originated in Wuhan, or from the Wuhan Institute of Virology?"

YUAN ZHIMING Researcher, Wuhan Institute of Virology Director, Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory "In fact, as people who carry out virus studies, we clearly know what kind of virus research is going on in the institute and how the institute manages viruses and samples. As we said early on, there's no way this virus came out from us— We have a strict regulatory regime, we have a code of conduct for research, so we are confident of that."

FENG YILEI Wuhan "It is reported that the 'virus leaked from the Wuhan virology institute' caused the outbreak. What is your take on it?"

YUAN ZHIMING Researcher, Wuhan Institute of Virology Director, Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory "Why are there rumors? Because the Institute of Virology and P4 laboratory are in Wuhan— people can't help making associations, which I think is understanding. But it's bad when some are deliberately trying to mislead people. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton said earlier that the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Washington Post and several other reporters wrote about the virus coming from the Wuhan lab. They have no evidence, or knowledge, this is entirely based on speculation. Part of the purpose is to confuse people, to interfere with our anti-epidemic activities, or even our scientific activities. They may have achieved their goal in some way, but as a scientist and a science and technology manager, I have been engaged in laboratory biosafety management and scientific research project management for a long time— and I know it's impossible. I also believe that as long as the pandemic continues, especially in other countries, such doubts and disharmony will not go away.  

FENG YILEI Wuhan "There are also reports saying that the novel coronavirus is man-made. What do you think of it? Has anyone mastered such a technology in the world?"

YUAN ZHIMING Researcher, Wuhan Institute of Virology Director, Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory "In fact, there are many reports in academic journals. From my personal understanding of virology, there is no evidence to prove that the virus has artificial or synthetic traces. Besides, some scientists believe that to synthesize a virus requires extraordinary intelligence and work load. So I have never believed that we humans would have the capability at this time to synthesize such a virus." 

FENG YILEI Wuhan  "What support do the institute's research outcomes provide for global epidemic prevention, control and treatment? Will conspiracy theories have an ill effect on international cooperation?"

YUAN ZHIMING Researcher, Wuhan Institute of Virology Director, Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory "In accordance with the arrangement of the National Health Commission, we shared the whole genome sequence with the WHO, which laid a good foundation for countries around the world to confirm the testing method in the early stage, including the design of mRNA vaccine. Meanwhile we have actively communicated with the WHO, as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization, to report on the latest results of animal model research and development as Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Institute of Laboratory Animal Science are the first in the world to build an animal model.  After all, conspiracy theories are not common, the scientific community has a basic judgment on where the pathogen comes from. The American scientific community has been kind to us. We still have some good conversations and communication. The tech community in the United States is strongly opposed to such conspiracy theories, and these kinds of statements that politicians make for political purposes. For example, some people say our laboratory is not well managed, but the director of the Galveston National Laboratory in the United States made it clear that this laboratory is just as well managed as labs in Europe and the U.S. Many other scientists around the world have also joined forces to publish articles in the hope that the conspiracy theories will not harm the cooperation or affect their fight against epidemics. All we can say is that we have to speak what we think is right."