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Deeper investigation is needed to find out where SARS-CoV-2 came from, according to a letter signed by 18 scientists from various institutions in North America and Europe. Published today (May 14) in Science, the letter notes that the available evidence about the virus’ origins doesn’t allow researchers to rule out either the hypothesis that the virus spilled over from animals, or the idea that it was accidentally released from a laboratory.
“We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data,” the authors write. “A proper investigation should be transparent, objective, data-driven, inclusive of broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, and responsibly managed to minimize the impact of conflicts of interest.”
Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) have previously called the theory that SARS-CoV-2 escaped from a lab in Wuhan “extremely unlikely.” Instead, investigators from the organization who ...