COVID-19’s Origins Need Further Investigation, Say Scientists

A letter signed by 18 researchers argues that hypotheses about zoonotic spillover or accidental lab release both “remain viable” in the absence of additional evidence.

Written byCatherine Offord

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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 ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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