Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19
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- Create Date：2022-06-24 16:21:36
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Alina Chan
- ISBN：0063139138
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Rori Rockman
，
This book definitely could have benefitted from some tighter editing， but given the urgency of the topic being discussed， I understand and even agree with the decision to forego further editing and get this book published。This book does a deep dive into all things COVID-related。 The beginning of the book kind of felt like a data dump， and I was sometimes felt overwhelmed by information and not sure of the significance of it all or what the different pieces of information had to do with one anoth This book definitely could have benefitted from some tighter editing， but given the urgency of the topic being discussed， I understand and even agree with the decision to forego further editing and get this book published。This book does a deep dive into all things COVID-related。 The beginning of the book kind of felt like a data dump， and I was sometimes felt overwhelmed by information and not sure of the significance of it all or what the different pieces of information had to do with one another。 But by the end of the book， all the pieces started to come together and I got my bearings。 The authors present a compelling case。 They present to us the initial hypothesis （that the virus was transferred from wildlife animals to humans in the marketplace， and then discuss the various pieces of evidence that we would expect to encounter if that was the case -- and the ultimate lack of evidence to support this theory。 （To name just one example， many animals at the market were tested for the virus， and not a single one tested positive。）Then they examine pieces of information that the Chinese government withheld from the world until it was uncovered by passionate Internet sleuths--information having to do with the viruses being studied at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and associated experimentation/research。 They ultimately conclude that while there is not sufficient proof to conclusively determine where COVID originated and how it spread， that current evidence warrants， at the very least， a much more thorough investigation into the possibility of a lab origin。Which is why I support their efforts to get this book published ASAP。 They have a narrow window of time in which to influence the public before everyone starts losing interest。 And considering that the WHO just released a report advocating for more investigation into the lab leak theory earlier this month， it looks like their efforts paid off。 。。。more
JanB
，
How serendipitous that this book became available from the library as I’m home recovering from Covid， my souvenir of a trip overseas。 （Thankfully， a mild case）。 Yep， I avoided it for 2+ years despite babysitting for my little germ-carriers。。。er， grandchildren。。。。。I had to go overseas to get it。。。and now I'm missing our planned trip to the mountains。So， it was with much interest that I dove into this book。 Here we are， 2+ years into the pandemic， and there are still more questions than answers。 C How serendipitous that this book became available from the library as I’m home recovering from Covid， my souvenir of a trip overseas。 （Thankfully， a mild case）。 Yep， I avoided it for 2+ years despite babysitting for my little germ-carriers。。。er， grandchildren。。。。。I had to go overseas to get it。。。and now I'm missing our planned trip to the mountains。So， it was with much interest that I dove into this book。 Here we are， 2+ years into the pandemic， and there are still more questions than answers。 Co-author Alina Chan is a Canadian molecular biologist specializing in gene therapy and cell engineering at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard， where she is a postdoctoral fellow。 Her fellow co-author is a journalist。What this is not is a conspiracy theory book。 Nor is it a political book。 What it is， is a scientific book。 Alina Chan shares the evidence supporting theories that suggest either a naturally occurring virus in animals or a lab origin source of the virus， while debunking misinformation。 The author’s objective？ A transparent， objective， and independent investigation into the source of the virus。The book is also a fascinating， and sometimes frightening， look into the worldwide scientific work and research into viruses， as well as exploring the nature of a virus and why naturally occurring viruses are more prevalent today。Shockingly， this book has stirred the ire of government agencies， some scientists， and many in the media。 One has to ask why， when， apparently， the book has been fact checked， and nothing has been found to be in error。 I’ve read some of the negative reviews in the press and they leave me mystified and wondering if they actually read the book。The authors do not draw a definitive conclusion as to the virus’s origin， as there is no direct evidence for either of the theories。 The authors do not suggest anything was deliberate。 No conspiracy theories here。 This book is a call for an in-depth scientific investigation， and largely due to Ms Chan’s dogged determination and her challenging the status quo on her Twitter feed （which， in itself， is fascinating reading）， the scientific consensus is shifting。 In May， President Biden ordered a new investigation into the origin of the virus: “The United States will also keep working with like-minded partners around the world to press China to participate in a full， transparent， evidence-based international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data and evidence。” If only there had been such transparency and cooperation from the beginning。A must-read for everyone。 The narrator of the audiobook was excellent！*Half of the earnings on the sale of the book will be donated to charity， including， but not limited to health care workers， covid relief， and medical research。 。。。more
Andy
，
This book is unfortunately not a crazy conspiracy theory。 It is too much "inside baseball" though about both virologists and journalists。 A good magazine article （e。g。 from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists） would make the same points adequately: we just don't know what turned a virus that usually causes the common cold into a global killer; we may never know because the proper investigations were not done promptly; public communication about the whole thing has been a big mess; the COVID-19 pan This book is unfortunately not a crazy conspiracy theory。 It is too much "inside baseball" though about both virologists and journalists。 A good magazine article （e。g。 from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists） would make the same points adequately: we just don't know what turned a virus that usually causes the common cold into a global killer; we may never know because the proper investigations were not done promptly; public communication about the whole thing has been a big mess; the COVID-19 pandemic could have come from some kind of a lab leak， or not。 。。。more
John Devlin
，
It’s all here: the Chinese lies， the scientists glaring omissions， the absence of any animal host - though previous epidemics have always found the animal host， the appearance of Covid in an almost perfectly modeled state -as if it hadn’t come from another creature， Peter Dazack and his emails to DARPA asking for a grant to insert furrin cleavages into bats。It’s all here but the smoking gun， and that’s bc the Chinese tossed the gun into the river。
Yvette
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3。5
Ann
，
I had such great hopes for this book！ I really hoped that this book would cut through the thicket of confusing virus names， hidden information， inaccessible information， and provide clarity on where this virus came from。 But it didn't， and the book struck me as hastily written， and not properly researched from all sides。 The book does a good job of piecing together different bits of information - this virus sequence from that paper， vs。 that virus sequence from that doctoral thesis， and this bat I had such great hopes for this book！ I really hoped that this book would cut through the thicket of confusing virus names， hidden information， inaccessible information， and provide clarity on where this virus came from。 But it didn't， and the book struck me as hastily written， and not properly researched from all sides。 The book does a good job of piecing together different bits of information - this virus sequence from that paper， vs。 that virus sequence from that doctoral thesis， and this bat virus from that cave vs。 another bat virus from another cave。 What started to irritate me in the end is that the book's theme is not so much an earnest search for the truth， as a vindication of the non-establisment "internet sleuths"。 Some of them are named， and their contributions triumphantly contrasted with the laggards in the world's most prestigious institutions。 I like to cheer for the underdog， and I don't mind seeing some pretentious people put in their place。 I like to hear/see/read people asking provocative questions， and I don't think that crazy ideas should be dismissed out of hand。 But this book ended up driving me into the opposite camp。 Is there really that much credit in credit for putting a provocative question on Twitter， and then complain that one's favorite theory is not immediately being vindicated by the scientists in their labs？ Also， I believe that many scientific papers， like most human endeavors， contain a lot of errors， gaps and inconsistencies。 And so finding errors， gaps， and inconsistencies， including having different names for the same virus （fragment）， to me， do not necessarily indicate sinister intent。 So in the end， I got tired of reading arguments that， to me， sounded both and self-congratulatory， along the lines of "There has to be something fishy going on！ Oh， yes， there's data missing， and this data doesn't make sense， and this virus looks like this other virus。 See， we told you there was something fishy going on！ No one believed us but we were right"。 And especially when the "we" in the story are an ill-defined group of "internet sleuths"， I feel that we are veering closer to conspiracy theory than to "the wisdom of crowds"。 Others have commented that the authors are in favor of the lab-break theory， while providing only circumstantial evidence that his might have been the origin of the pandemic。 They may be right， they may be wrong。 We will probably never know - it's unlikely that some document will ever com to light in which a scientist or lab manager admits to having made a serious blunder leading to the escape of the virus from a lab。 It felt to me that this was the entire book : pointing out where the dots didn't connect， but only occasionally connecting some dots， and then being very satisfied about having pointed out that some dots didn't seem to connect。 A lot of the book's space was also given over to discussing the theories about SARS-COV2 that were disproven。 The whole chapter about pangolins， for instance， was just filler。So this book left me with a sense of irritation， rather than with the feeling of having learned something， of having understood something， of seeing clarity where before there was only confusion。 。。。more
Mariela Stancheva
，
Книгата съдържа факти， събирани от различни източници， които касаят пандемията от Covid-19。 Фактите касаят възникването на епидемии от този тип вируси， проследяването на изследване на вируси， проследяване на мутациите на вируси， реакцията на политически власти при епидемии， контрола върху лабораторни изследвания с потенциал да предизвикат биозаразяване и информационни методи за анализ на данни。В книгата са описани факти отнасящи се до всяка една от 4-те основни теории за пандемията от Covid-19 - Книгата съдържа факти， събирани от различни източници， които касаят пандемията от Covid-19。 Фактите касаят възникването на епидемии от този тип вируси， проследяването на изследване на вируси， проследяване на мутациите на вируси， реакцията на политически власти при епидемии， контрола върху лабораторни изследвания с потенциал да предизвикат биозаразяване и информационни методи за анализ на данни。В книгата са описани факти отнасящи се до всяка една от 4-те основни теории за пандемията от Covid-19 - естествен преход на зоовирус към човек в резултат от контакт със заразено животно， заразяване при събиране на гуано в пещери， заразяване на човек при лабораторен експеримент и лабораторен инцидент。Книгата проследява хронологията на разкриване на факти свързани с епидемията причинена от SARS-Cov-2。 Авторите правят сравнителен анализ на епидемията с по-рано възникналите епидемии SARS и MERS。 Анализират приликите и разликите между епидемиите， както и разкритията на учените за начина на възникване и протичане на първите две （SARS и MERS）。 Основен извод в тази част е， че за пандемията от Covid-19 е направено много по-малко в тази насока от направеното от учените в предните две， при това с много по-съвременни технологии и за много по-дълго време。 Основната причина за това е нежеланието на китайските власти да сътрудничат и/или установяването на съответните факти， но нежеланието да се споделят с международната общественост。 В книгата се описват хронологично （по научните публикации в редица списания） изследвания проведени в Института по вирусология в Ухан， които проследяват напредъка в събирането， изследването， секвениранети и генното модифициране на коронавируси с фокус върху сарбековирусите， чийто представител е SARS-Cov-2， причинил пандемията от COVID-19。 На база на тази хронология се обясняват методите за изследване на коронавируси， които биха могли да доведат до появата （по естествен и/или изкуствен） път на вирус， способен да причини пандемия。 Основния извод в тази част е， че в Института по вирусология в Ухан са използвани технологии и вирусни проби， които позволяват да се модифицира съществуващ вирус открит в Модзян （достъпът до която е забранен） до вирус близък до SARS-Cov-2。 Няма доказателства， че това е било направено。 Има доказателства， че подобни опити са правени， но резултатите от тях са прикрити и се публикуват под натиск на научната общественост като допълнения към публикувани статии。Авторите дават информация за връзките с изследванията на учените играещи основна роля в тази епидемия， оценка на тяхната обективност на база на финансиране и политически обстоятелства （особено за учените в Китай и някои американски учени， чиито изследвания са финансирани от САЩ， но се провеждат в Института по вирусология в Ухан）。 В тази връзка се дискутира и първоначалното участие на Франция в проекта за Института по вирусология в Ухан， който е трябвало да бъде построен и сертифициран от Франция， но тя отказва да го сертифицира， защото нейни представители не са допуснати до строителството。 Самите учени в Ухан е трябвало да бъдат обучени от 50 френски учени （водещи във вирусологията）， но Китай допуска само 1 учен и в последствие този учен също се отказва。 Институтът е трябвало да бъде научен институт， но има доказателства， че там са реализирани поне 3 проекта， финансирани от военното министерство на Китай， но информация за тях се прикрива。 Базата данни с вируси， която е трябвало да бъде споделена с учените от цял свят е останала недостъпна от предполагаемото начало на епидемията почти до средата на 2020， когато отново е направена достъпна под натиск на научната общественост。 Сигнатури на ключови вируси са били променяни， така че да се затрудни установяването на факти， че става дума за едни и същи вируси， за едни и същи случаи на извличане на био-материал и за едни и същи пациенти。В заключение авторите призовават международната научна общественост да бъде допусната до едно истинско научно изследване на причините за пандемията， действията или бездействията довели до възникването и разрастването на заразата и дефиниране на правилни процедури за реакция при подобни ситуации в бъдеще。 В края на книгата има приложена и кратка хронология на ключови събития。 。。。more
David Wilusz
，
Natural spillover， or lab origin？ That is the question the world has been trying to answer since the emergence of Covid。 While this book does not provide an answer， it includes some fascinating details that have not been well-reported by mainstream media - particularly so on the side of the lab-leak possibility。 The extreme lack of transparency and cooperation from China has done little to quell that theory。 Of note is just how opposed to the lab-leak theory many Western scientists were at the b Natural spillover， or lab origin？ That is the question the world has been trying to answer since the emergence of Covid。 While this book does not provide an answer， it includes some fascinating details that have not been well-reported by mainstream media - particularly so on the side of the lab-leak possibility。 The extreme lack of transparency and cooperation from China has done little to quell that theory。 Of note is just how opposed to the lab-leak theory many Western scientists were at the beginning of the pandemic， despite having little to no data to support such claims， other than the word of the Chinese government！ This seems contrary to the very idea of science， which should be data-dependent， and not politicized。 Some astonishing work has been done by Internet sleuths to uncover information that， at a minimum， should raise some eyebrows。 Highly recommended for anyone interested in understanding the true origins of Covid， and how research intended to prevent a pandemic may have actually caused one instead。 。。。more
Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤
，
A fascinating， real life detective story searching for the origin of SARS-CoV-2 I've been hesitant to read books concerning the origin of the virus that caused the pandemic because there are so many conspiracy theories。 I don't trust just anyone to write a factual book about where this virus came from。 I only want to hear what scientists in the fields of virology， epidemiology， genomics， and similar have to say。Co-author of this book， Alina Chan， is a molecular biologist who specializes in gene A fascinating， real life detective story searching for the origin of SARS-CoV-2 I've been hesitant to read books concerning the origin of the virus that caused the pandemic because there are so many conspiracy theories。 I don't trust just anyone to write a factual book about where this virus came from。 I only want to hear what scientists in the fields of virology， epidemiology， genomics， and similar have to say。Co-author of this book， Alina Chan， is a molecular biologist who specializes in gene therapy and cell engineering at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard。 She and two colleagues were the first to publish a paper observing 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。"In this book， she and journalist Matt Ridley write about her and others findings about the virus。 They explore various hypotheses about its origin， discussing how likely or unlikely they are。 I am surprised to learn how deeply China obfuscated information， perhaps preventing the world from ever finding the origin。 There is a lot of science （virology and genomics） in this book but it is written in a way that is accessible to the layperson。 I was fascinated to learn more about viruses， coronaviruses in particular。 Equally fascinating （and terrifying） is gain of function research。 I was interested to learn about furin cleavage sites， what it is and why it increases infectivity of the virus。 There's so much I could write about - I made 58 highlights - but it's better for anyone interested to read the book， not my interpretation of it。I appreciate that the authors did not let politics dictate what they say about the possible， even probable， origin of the pandemic。 I also appreciate that they did not give a definitive answer， which would have been unscientific without proof。。。。。 proof that might never be found。 Instead， they point out what seems the most likely scenario and why， and one I'm inclined to agree with after reading this book。CW: There is animal experimentation in this book and， though not graphic， it is disturbing and might be too much for some readers。 。。。more
Randy Kerr
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Phenomenal， learned a ton
Shawn
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This is a really interesting book。 Ridley and Chan dive into as much available evidence as they can to try to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19。 In the end， they don't get an answer。 But they present and evaluate the case for the two main theories: natural spillover from animals and a lab-related accident or escape。 I am not sure it really matters which turns out to be true， though I think it is important to do the research and find out。 There are three main walk away conclusions for This is a really interesting book。 Ridley and Chan dive into as much available evidence as they can to try to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19。 In the end， they don't get an answer。 But they present and evaluate the case for the two main theories: natural spillover from animals and a lab-related accident or escape。 I am not sure it really matters which turns out to be true， though I think it is important to do the research and find out。 There are three main walk away conclusions for me。（1） The Chinese government actively worked to conceal and cover up almost everything related to COVID-19 and from the get go。 This does make them look guilty， but it also is just the way the CCP seems to operate with everything。 In any case， it is just more evidence to be wary of the CCP and authoritarian regimes。（2） No matter if it was natural spillover or a lab leak， we need to do much more in terms of biosecurity。 Maybe COVID-19 came from the wild， but the probability of a virus getting out of research labs is dangerously too high。 The research is important， but the levels of biosecurity need to be improved。（3） The politicization of COVID that lead to the quick dismissal of the possibility of lab-leak hypothesis was dangerous--and continues to be。 Politics and science is a dangerous mix that undermines free society and good science。 。。。more
~☆~Autumn♥♥☔
，
Work is still being done in China on corona viruses from bats （they carry thousands of them）。 Viruses escape from labs but there is exceptional carelessness there。 129 viruses escaped from labs in the US which I found hard to believe so imagine what can happen there！！Read this book for yourself。
Richard
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I wasn't bowled over by this， and I'm slightly surprised to see such a high rating。 it was a bit long-winded in places， and could have used another couple of rounds of editing。 However， I felt much better informed about covid than I did when starting the book， which was my main reason for buying and reading it。 I wasn't bowled over by this， and I'm slightly surprised to see such a high rating。 it was a bit long-winded in places， and could have used another couple of rounds of editing。 However， I felt much better informed about covid than I did when starting the book， which was my main reason for buying and reading it。 。。。more
George Ward
，
The world now faces a strong possibility that scientific research， intended to avoid a pandemic， instead started one; that all that collecting of viruses and sampling of bats in remote caves - and then hiding the specimens in secret databases - had put humanity in harm’s way。 That two decades of research on the genomes of sarbecoviruses had not produced a vaccine but a plague。
Stephen Benjamin
，
Early on in the pandemic， we were told the lab leak theories were just conspiracy theories。 Yet the evidence is overwhelming， even if it’s not conclusive。 The book makes the case for natural origin and lab leak， but the evidence for lab leak is far more convincing。 Years after the beginning of the pandemic， we still don’t have early data that was destroyed or hidden from the WIV。 Details about similar viruses retrieved by WIV scientists from the Mojiang mines were hidden until internet sleuths f Early on in the pandemic， we were told the lab leak theories were just conspiracy theories。 Yet the evidence is overwhelming， even if it’s not conclusive。 The book makes the case for natural origin and lab leak， but the evidence for lab leak is far more convincing。 Years after the beginning of the pandemic， we still don’t have early data that was destroyed or hidden from the WIV。 Details about similar viruses retrieved by WIV scientists from the Mojiang mines were hidden until internet sleuths found mention of them from papers before the pandemic。 WIV denied housing bats in their labs yet orders for cages and a patent for a bat bite treating device have been uncovered。 This can’t happen again but with our heads buried in the sands about what happened here; it certainly will again。 。。。more
Stephanie
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A well-researched trove of information - a very dense but educational read。
Jonathan
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I found it pretty compelling but then it's so technical and full of detail that I really don't know。 I found it pretty compelling but then it's so technical and full of detail that I really don't know。 。。。more
Isham Cook
，
Persuasive analysis of Covid-19 origins and the likeliness of the lab leak theory。
Alberto Campuzano
，
This books proved to me that， despite all the technological advances of our modern times， we still live in the dark ages， where witch hunting and book burnings are still just as prevalent as in medieval times。
Stef
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Conclusion: we still don't know because too many things were kept hidden and too many people particularly media remain incurious。 We need more transparency， more research， more regulations， etc etc to prevent the next pandemic。 Ya think？Frustrating read， but I still appreciate the amount of work that was put into this， and the courage to publish it。Homeschooling notes: Read the epilogue first and the timeline， peruse through the bibliography for primary sources， and then read from the beginning Conclusion: we still don't know because too many things were kept hidden and too many people particularly media remain incurious。 We need more transparency， more research， more regulations， etc etc to prevent the next pandemic。 Ya think？Frustrating read， but I still appreciate the amount of work that was put into this， and the courage to publish it。Homeschooling notes: Read the epilogue first and the timeline， peruse through the bibliography for primary sources， and then read from the beginning if still desired。 。。。more
Emil O。 W。 Kirkegaard
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I didn't learn about this book until recently， but it was published already back in November 16， 2021。 In the months since that， there has been no improvement in the evidence for natural origin。 Passing time and the failure to find realistic animal origins is evidence for non-natural origin， i。e。， any sort of lab leak or release model。 This book is mainly about the more plausible， less sinister accidental lab leak with following cover-up by Chinese government-model。 I would probably give this mo I didn't learn about this book until recently， but it was published already back in November 16， 2021。 In the months since that， there has been no improvement in the evidence for natural origin。 Passing time and the failure to find realistic animal origins is evidence for non-natural origin， i。e。， any sort of lab leak or release model。 This book is mainly about the more plausible， less sinister accidental lab leak with following cover-up by Chinese government-model。 I would probably give this model 85% probability at this point。 。。。more
Susanita
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My biggest take away from this book … stay away from bat caves！ I wish I had read this book 25 years ago， because that was when I visited a bat cave in Guatemala and got rained on by bat guano。 The bats had just woken up。 At the time I thought it was both gross and funny。 But later I came down with the worst upper respiratory virus I’ve ever had。 My fever was so high I was hallucinating。 I spent an additional week on the beach in Belize recovering， which in hindsight may have prevented the sprea My biggest take away from this book … stay away from bat caves！ I wish I had read this book 25 years ago， because that was when I visited a bat cave in Guatemala and got rained on by bat guano。 The bats had just woken up。 At the time I thought it was both gross and funny。 But later I came down with the worst upper respiratory virus I’ve ever had。 My fever was so high I was hallucinating。 I spent an additional week on the beach in Belize recovering， which in hindsight may have prevented the spread of a novel coronavirus！All my life， I’ve thought of viruses as just an occasional nuisance。 I even looked forward to getting the flu because it meant I could take off work and perhaps shed a few pounds。 And bacterial infections？ No big deal。 Just go to the doctor and get a round of antibiotics。 I remember my mother counseling me that not long ago people would just get sick from the flu and die！ Oh how naive I was。The Covid pandemic opened my eyes about the ferocity of the lowly virus。 This book is an excellent primer on viruses in general and the author makes a good case for the origin of Covid-19。 Hint … it has something to do with bats … and a lab。 All in all a good read， albiet sometimes a little technical。 。。。more
Patricia Leishman
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Enthralling and food for thought
Andrew Martin
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pretty good companion to david quammen's spillover， which describes how a regular zoonotic outbreak could jump from bat to person to um， every person in the world。minus one star for matt ridley's twitter presence - he's become a pretty polarizing / polarized dude （quick check of his twitter feed has a retweet of "Free Speech Champions" in the past 12h 🙄）。 is Ridley an honest broker， dispassionately assembling some facts？ definitely not - he has DEFINITELY hitched his wagon to #LabLeakHypothesis， pretty good companion to david quammen's spillover， which describes how a regular zoonotic outbreak could jump from bat to person to um， every person in the world。minus one star for matt ridley's twitter presence - he's become a pretty polarizing / polarized dude （quick check of his twitter feed has a retweet of "Free Speech Champions" in the past 12h 🙄）。 is Ridley an honest broker， dispassionately assembling some facts？ definitely not - he has DEFINITELY hitched his wagon to #LabLeakHypothesis， so it's probably worth reading the skeptical reviews to temper the general vibe of Viral （which is damning）。 but all that said， the evidence assembled here is pretty convincing。 if I were a betting man， I'd be putting my chips on "something got loose from one of the Wuhan labs。" 。。。more
Haoxing
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I thought this was a great book presenting a set of convincing evidence and very reasonable arguments。 I also appreciated that it goes into the details of the science from time to time （but never too much）。 Before reading this book， I knew very little about the debate around the origin of Covid， and certainly did not know what evidence there is for the natural origin and the lab leak hypotheses。 I highly recommend everyone to read this book， and think more about the best way to approach low-prob I thought this was a great book presenting a set of convincing evidence and very reasonable arguments。 I also appreciated that it goes into the details of the science from time to time （but never too much）。 Before reading this book， I knew very little about the debate around the origin of Covid， and certainly did not know what evidence there is for the natural origin and the lab leak hypotheses。 I highly recommend everyone to read this book， and think more about the best way to approach low-probability， high-impact risks such as the leak of a dangerous pathogen from a lab （and also， say， misaligned artificial intelligence）。Reading this book also filled me with great sorrow。 It is still surreal the degree to which Covid has changed the world （especially in lieu of the hypothesis that Putin became essentially entirely isolated since Covid happened and that might have directly caused the current Russia-Ukraine war）， and it is just so sad to me that we will never know for certain how it happened。 。。。more
Chris Bevan
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One of the authors， Matt Ridley， I first heard on youtube ， and after the second time around ， I then looked up this book ， which he co-authored。 The idea of the lab-leak origin has been around for a while， mooted by people such as Bret Weinstein ， and notoriously publicised by Donald Trump， immediately thus discrediting the idea in the eyes of many。 The book goes carefully though the data， the theory， and the history of the trawl for data， in order to try to find out the story behind it。 A stra One of the authors， Matt Ridley， I first heard on youtube ， and after the second time around ， I then looked up this book ， which he co-authored。 The idea of the lab-leak origin has been around for a while， mooted by people such as Bret Weinstein ， and notoriously publicised by Donald Trump， immediately thus discrediting the idea in the eyes of many。 The book goes carefully though the data， the theory， and the history of the trawl for data， in order to try to find out the story behind it。 A strange， perhaps bizarre and even possibly sinister conclusion is that there is no conclusive evidence produced as to its origin; it remains unknown。 This is strange， even bizarre， because an enormous amount of energy has been expended at this question， and a lot of very well equipped minds and laboratories have endeavoured to find it， and so far， found nothing at all。 It is sinister， because at every stage of meaningful links or evidences being found， the Chinese government systematically has destroyed evidences and data， obfuscated explanations， or forbade examination。 For these reasons; the destruction of data， and the forbidding of examination， and the disingenuous， obfuscation of facts and events， the research had to focus on the history of the data; the history of publication of papers， patents and discussions， which in their turn have alluded to those pertinent facts， now unavailable for examination。 What is telling is that up until 2019， the Wuhan Institute of Virology published research papers and patents in the normal way， alongside such collaboration and sharing of information and research ideas as would normal in the academic world。 Then in 2019， not only does the lab go silent， but also the online database is suddenly and inexplicably taken offline in September。 Only in November was COVID-19 formally diagnosed。 Another strange and possibly sinister aspect to this whole crisis has been the widespread censorship of debate， and the stultifying response from various individuals and agencies who should know better， most notably， the World Health Organisation。 It would appear that many around the world have been eager to collaborate with the Chinese government’s attempts to obscure the origin of Covid-19。 Time will tell whether anyone on Earth does in fact know the truth of this matter。 Meanwhile， there is the greatest suspicion that the Chinese authorities perceived a problem before September of 2019， and have lied about it ever since。 。。。more
Joshua Polanski
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This should be required reading in any information literacy course for high schoolers。
Arturo
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Interesting but the storytelling is not that great
Patrick
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Brilliant book。 Mostly accessible to the layman， though there are a few sections where my Bio classes failed me。 Its a fair minded look that asks important questions。
Philip Steiner
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