Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19
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- Create Date：2021-11-24 03:19:11
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Matt Ridley
- ISBN：B097CLV3QP
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Summary
A new virus descended on the human species in 2019 wreaking unprecedented havoc。 Finding out where it came from and how it first jumped into people is an urgent priority， but early expectations that this would prove an easy question to answer have been dashed。 Nearly two years into the pandemic， the crucial mystery of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not only unresolved but has deepened。
In this uniquely insightful book， a scientist and a writer join forces to try to get to the bottom of how a virus whose closest relations live in bats in subtropical southern China somehow managed to begin spreading among people more than 1，500 kilometres away in the city of Wuhan。 They grapple with the baffling fact that the virus left none of the expected traces that such outbreaks usually create: no infected market animals or wildlife， no chains of early cases in travellers to the city， no smouldering epidemic in a rural area， no rapid adaptation of the virus to its new host--human beings。
To try to solve this pressing mystery， Viral delves deep into the events of 2019 leading up to 2021， the details of what went on in animal markets and virology laboratories， the records and data hidden from sight within archived Chinese theses and websites， and the clues that can be coaxed from the very text of the virus's own genetic code。
The result is a gripping detective story that takes the reader deeper and deeper into a metaphorical cave of mystery。 One by one the authors explore promising tunnels only to show that they are blind alleys， until， miles beneath the surface， they find themselves tantalisingly close to a shaft that leads to the light。
In this uniquely insightful book， a scientist and a writer join forces to try to get to the bottom of how a virus whose closest relations live in bats in subtropical southern China somehow managed to begin spreading among people more than 1，500 kilometres away in the city of Wuhan。 They grapple with the baffling fact that the virus left none of the expected traces that such outbreaks usually create: no infected market animals or wildlife， no chains of early cases in travellers to the city， no smouldering epidemic in a rural area， no rapid adaptation of the virus to its new host--human beings。
To try to solve this pressing mystery， Viral delves deep into the events of 2019 leading up to 2021， the details of what went on in animal markets and virology laboratories， the records and data hidden from sight within archived Chinese theses and websites， and the clues that can be coaxed from the very text of the virus's own genetic code。
The result is a gripping detective story that takes the reader deeper and deeper into a metaphorical cave of mystery。 One by one the authors explore promising tunnels only to show that they are blind alleys， until， miles beneath the surface， they find themselves tantalisingly close to a shaft that leads to the light。
Reviews
Jun Y
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In the early months of 2020， as the world dragged itself into a pandemic and subsequent lockdowns， the now famous biologist Alina Chan was doing some serious analysis in her lab。 She discovered that by the time SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in late 2019， “it was already pre-adapted to human transmission to an extent similar to late epidemic SARS-CoV。” Moreover， it was “evolving more slowly than one newly arrived in the human species from another animal normally would”， implying that SARS-CoV-2 “ In the early months of 2020， as the world dragged itself into a pandemic and subsequent lockdowns， the now famous biologist Alina Chan was doing some serious analysis in her lab。 She discovered that by the time SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in late 2019， “it was already pre-adapted to human transmission to an extent similar to late epidemic SARS-CoV。” Moreover， it was “evolving more slowly than one newly arrived in the human species from another animal normally would”， implying that SARS-CoV-2 “was already well-adapted to human beings from the moment it was first detected in Wuhan in December 2019。” Top scientists in the field had early coalesced around the idea that SARS-CoV-2 was far more likely zoonotic than anything that leaked from a laboratory。Virologists took note of Alina Chan’s conclusions and moved on。 Non-experts by and large followed suit， but not co-author Matt Ridley。 A lifelong science writer， his instincts were to put out an account of the Covid-19 origin story that was honest and not corrupted by undeclared interests and cronies within various establishments。 The result was “Viral”， a book that blends both authors’ strengths as well as intelligence from open source analysts on the internet who obtained contact tracing information and archival lab research undisclosed by the Chinese government。 In the detective story so pieced together， the lab leak theory is given prime suspect treatment。 At the heart of the lab leak hypothesis is Shi Zhengli who heads a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology。 Whether there are other rooms in and around her lab doing confidential research， we may not know。 Chan and Ridley deem Shi an unreliable witness – that much is apparent – otherwise they would not have gone on at length detailing Shi Zhengli and her lab’s suspicious behaviour， including obscuring Sars-related gain of function research they have been doing in the years leading up to 2019 that might shed light on how Covid-19 emerged。 And including the evasions of collaborator and ally Peter Daszak the whole time – before， during or after he was tasked by the WHO to “investigate” the virology labs in Wuhan。 How any number or types of dubious experiments could have given rise to （the genome of） SARS-CoV-2 is much less clear from the book， and that is arguably one of its major flaws。 If there was insufficient evidence， the authors failed to Sherlock Holmes this one with any jaw-dropping deduction。 It has to be said though that having an element of conspiratorial thinking is not necessarily a bad thing， unless of course too many more qualified scientists and virologists say so。 Still too unfortunately， the reliability or unreliability of one person – Shi Zhengli – is what head-scratching virologists and frankly the whole world has to go on at this point。 The authors of the book are clearly not satisfied。 The mounting circumstantial evidence for an accident scenario is too much for them， from the gain of function and cell-passaging experiments potentially being done in the WIV to its lax safety measures to the live bats themselves being kept there。 For the uninitiated， the key public statement put out by Shi Zhengli as part of a Scientific American interview reads: ‘ none of the sequences （in the WIV lab） matched those of the viruses her team had sampled from bat caves。 “That really took a load off my mind，” she says。 “I had not slept a wink for days。” ’Much hinges on the veracity of Shi's testimony。 On the other hand， could WIV scientists have brought the progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 into the lab and tampered with it without even knowing they have， finding out only when it leaked？The lab’s close geographic proximity to the location of the first superspreading event， the Huanan Seafood market， has primed it for rigorous examination by the authors， who also rightly point out that lab accidents are not at all uncommon。 That is a key point that cannot be chipped away by opponents of the lab leak theory， missing other hard evidence at this point。Reaching page 325 of this book， which could have been much longer， we are left with not an exclamation mark （！） and urged on to lay blame on anyone but a big ？。 If you are a seeker， read Viral。 。。。more
Anita
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The authors give a thorough and detailed analysis of the competing theories regarding the likely origins of covid-19。 Although many of the facts laid out have already been reported on by various news organizations， the book gathers the facts and theories together in a clear and concise way， and gives interesting background information and a higher level of detail than is available in most news reports。 It also tells the stories of the diverse group of individuals who have been instrumental in fi The authors give a thorough and detailed analysis of the competing theories regarding the likely origins of covid-19。 Although many of the facts laid out have already been reported on by various news organizations， the book gathers the facts and theories together in a clear and concise way， and gives interesting background information and a higher level of detail than is available in most news reports。 It also tells the stories of the diverse group of individuals who have been instrumental in finding out more about the possible origins of the virus。 （spoiler alert: though the authors give a detailed description of the main origin theories， they clearly lean towards an accidental lab leak as the most likely source of the pandemic）。 。。。more
Jocelynn Pearl， PhD
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