Science

Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19

Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19

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  • Create Date：2022-01-24 06:52:07
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Alina Chan
  • ISBN：0008487499
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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。

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Reviews

Flaviu ，

This book was unduely ignored by relevant channels for fear of angering the ccp。 It's a thorough and objective look at all the evidence we gathered up until september 2021。 I only started to read it out of spite for censorship， but found to my surprise its actually a great read。 I have no doubts Alina and Matt will one day be given their earned respect for their efforts。 This book was unduely ignored by relevant channels for fear of angering the ccp。 It's a thorough and objective look at all the evidence we gathered up until september 2021。 I only started to read it out of spite for censorship， but found to my surprise its actually a great read。 I have no doubts Alina and Matt will one day be given their earned respect for their efforts。 。。。more

Roland ，

Well。 Long book， but in summary: "The Chineses are hiding something。 It is a likely lab leak。 But we can not prove it。"There is more than that in the book， it is well researched and some of it is interesting。 But the timeline goes back and forth repeats itself。It might a good book if you are an accademic， but for a lay person like me， it is just either confusing or you have to accept it at face value。Ps: the book is so badly written， and so "all over the place" that they had to put a timeline of Well。 Long book， but in summary: "The Chineses are hiding something。 It is a likely lab leak。 But we can not prove it。"There is more than that in the book， it is well researched and some of it is interesting。 But the timeline goes back and forth repeats itself。It might a good book if you are an accademic， but for a lay person like me， it is just either confusing or you have to accept it at face value。Ps: the book is so badly written， and so "all over the place" that they had to put a timeline of the virus at the book！ 。。。more

Dave Schumaker ，

Meh。 A few chapters into this。 Thought this would be interesting but it’s main sources seem to be anonymous Twitter and Reddit users and just reeks of conspiracy theories。

Christian Bønnelycke ，

Very interesting book， stating a lot of facts， for the reader to draw a conclusion

Anna Godfrey ，

An important read for anyone interested in both sides of the storyVery well written and comprehensive。 I hope that more people read this book and learn to question the narrative。 Welcome back critical thinking！

Jessica ，

Important debate but too much details for me

Jules ，

Highly recommend Terrific delineation of the path to discover where SARS-CoV-2 originated。 There is some very technical， scientific info but the authors make it as understandable to the lay person as possible。Definitely worth your time。

Alexander ，

Great book。 It has very good insight in the current situation in the world: How even huge， shared crisis can not unite countires， political parties and other rival groups; how politics and money infects science and inhibits its functioning。 Also does a great job， pointing out whats really important and clearing minds prone to lunatic mega conspiracies。 （I hope）

Adam Hummel ，

Very interesting but very dense science

David McDonald ，

A great example of how to have this conversation responsibly。 Highly recommend。

Thomas J ，

Makes a very convincing case for the origin of Covid 19 being a leak from a research lab in Wuhan， which we all figured out about a week after the world became aware of the virus。 This book connects all the dots， or shows where China has failed to provide dots。 It's longer than it needs to be， but from a publisher's standpoint， if you're going to charge thirty or forty bucks for a book it has to be about 400 pages。What amazed me is learning how many labs in how many countries are working on vari Makes a very convincing case for the origin of Covid 19 being a leak from a research lab in Wuhan， which we all figured out about a week after the world became aware of the virus。 This book connects all the dots， or shows where China has failed to provide dots。 It's longer than it needs to be， but from a publisher's standpoint， if you're going to charge thirty or forty bucks for a book it has to be about 400 pages。What amazed me is learning how many labs in how many countries are working on various viruses and how well connected they are， and how much research is being shared， published， and even pre-published。 Does anyone remember the internet back in about 1998 when you could do a search and actually find what you were looking for？ Now it doesn't matter what you search for， what you get is a whole bunch of ads for vacuum cleaners if that was the last thing you checked the price on。Worth reading。 。。。more

Lynn B ，

Very good read

Marcus Cicero ，

Overall， this book is quite entertaining， although a bit dry at times。 The evidence is certainly quite interesting， and many interesting tidbits of information are presented in front of you。 You learn a lot about various papers the wuhan institute of virology published， as well as what kind of research they were doing on samples of Bat coronaviruses。Refreshingly enough， the book doesn't try and shove a single narrative down your throat， and instead prevents different pieces of evidence in a most Overall， this book is quite entertaining， although a bit dry at times。 The evidence is certainly quite interesting， and many interesting tidbits of information are presented in front of you。 You learn a lot about various papers the wuhan institute of virology published， as well as what kind of research they were doing on samples of Bat coronaviruses。Refreshingly enough， the book doesn't try and shove a single narrative down your throat， and instead prevents different pieces of evidence in a mostly impartial way。 The book does have a preference towards the lab-leak origin of COVID， but I think this is a fair bias to have， given the suspicious behavior of the wuhan institute of virology and surrounding actors。 The book also gives a fair-handed case for the natural origin theory， and doesn't dive into conspiracies， like the virus being an engineered Bio-Weapon。An interesting read， although not necessarily the most entertaining or free-flowing。 。。。more

Lisa Davies ，

Riveting。 Narrator also one of the very best I have listened to。 Highly recommend。

Charles Rosenberg ，

Devastating and methodical dissection of the misinformation we have been spoon fed for last two years。。。they are true heroes to do such heavy lifting while so-called "journalists" have been comatose at the wheel。To their credit they present alternative viewpoints including an entire chapter making the case for the zoonotic thesis。Unfortunately the committee who give out book awards will not be politically predisposed to recognize merit from authors who made the establishment conventional wisdom Devastating and methodical dissection of the misinformation we have been spoon fed for last two years。。。they are true heroes to do such heavy lifting while so-called "journalists" have been comatose at the wheel。To their credit they present alternative viewpoints including an entire chapter making the case for the zoonotic thesis。Unfortunately the committee who give out book awards will not be politically predisposed to recognize merit from authors who made the establishment conventional wisdom "purveyors" look so faulty in their judgements。PS a strong biology science background certainly would help to follow these technical descriptions。 。。。more

Rob Sedgwick ，

This is an incredibly detailed and thorough book。 It argues the points well and dispassionately， although it does steer the reader inevitably towards some sort of lab leak。 It's encouraging the role of "amateur sleuths" on Twitter in uncovering a lot of the evidence。 The Chinese state can hide a lot but when millions of people online are looking under the hood， secrets cannot be kept out forever。The only real fault is the sheer level of detail， which might not suit everyone （reading the last cou This is an incredibly detailed and thorough book。 It argues the points well and dispassionately， although it does steer the reader inevitably towards some sort of lab leak。 It's encouraging the role of "amateur sleuths" on Twitter in uncovering a lot of the evidence。 The Chinese state can hide a lot but when millions of people online are looking under the hood， secrets cannot be kept out forever。The only real fault is the sheer level of detail， which might not suit everyone （reading the last couple of chapters will tell a lot of people all they need to know）。 The authors， especially Alina （judging from her Twitter feed）， seem to have immersed themselves in this stuff and live and breath it。 。。。more

Clare Anderson ，

Amazing！ The organization of so much information that was published along with details uncovered by people searching the internet for the truth to this pandemic is astonishing。 These two authors are to be commended for their ability to organize these facts and explain to laymen the implications of the science in such a way not to be trying to blame or present a conclusion for which there is no direct evidence。 And they did it with wit and common sense as to some of the more outlandish things tha Amazing！ The organization of so much information that was published along with details uncovered by people searching the internet for the truth to this pandemic is astonishing。 These two authors are to be commended for their ability to organize these facts and explain to laymen the implications of the science in such a way not to be trying to blame or present a conclusion for which there is no direct evidence。 And they did it with wit and common sense as to some of the more outlandish things that have come out during the pandemic。 They also recognized the value of numerous named and unnamed people who have worked magic finding information on the internet and analyzing large complex and at times misleading data。 I now understand much better what I have read and heard about this pandemic。 It is clear to me that until we can stop making judgements until we have had time to let all facts come in， we will waste time and money on the wrong things。 And many of the observations that these authors make can be applied to other problems in our society and the world。 The one item I would like to see added to this book for those that are young and those who have not been born yet would be to add some figures of the number is sick and dead from COVID-19 to the time line at the end of the book。 。。。more

Cade ，

Much of the content of this book consists of very precise recounting and comparison of multiple subtle lines of evidence。 As such， it can be very dry and a bit tedious to follow。 However， I admire the superbly professional treatment of a highly contentious issue。 The authors present the evidence very systematically and even-handedly。 They acknowledge possible alternative explanations and refuse to overstate their case。 I think it speaks to their intellectual honesty that they acknowledge that gi Much of the content of this book consists of very precise recounting and comparison of multiple subtle lines of evidence。 As such， it can be very dry and a bit tedious to follow。 However， I admire the superbly professional treatment of a highly contentious issue。 The authors present the evidence very systematically and even-handedly。 They acknowledge possible alternative explanations and refuse to overstate their case。 I think it speaks to their intellectual honesty that they acknowledge that given the subtle and technical nature of much of the evidence， many people just choose to believe whatever best fits their existing worldview。 I particularly like the two chapters where they lay out the case for and against the lab leak theory as imagined "closing arguments" in a legal case because this is a very effective way of weaving together the multiple threads of evidence and doubt to test the weight and coherence of the arguments as a whole after a book where it is easy to lose sight of the forest amidst the trees。 。。。more

Carrie Bulbuk ，

Very interesting， though a bit too technical at times。

Roland Glotzer ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 It is a thoroughly researched book that provides plenty of details on information sources and convincingly argues for a lab leak as the most credible source of Covid19。 They mention that the closest virus to Covid19 was a coronavirus linked to bats that had infected 6 miners in a copper mine in Guangdong province in 2012。 Virus samples had subsequently been taken to Wuhan in the following years。 Plenty of research on viruses is conducted in Wuhan at the Institute of Virology and various universi It is a thoroughly researched book that provides plenty of details on information sources and convincingly argues for a lab leak as the most credible source of Covid19。 They mention that the closest virus to Covid19 was a coronavirus linked to bats that had infected 6 miners in a copper mine in Guangdong province in 2012。 Virus samples had subsequently been taken to Wuhan in the following years。 Plenty of research on viruses is conducted in Wuhan at the Institute of Virology and various universities。Their major argument is that an animal spillover in the wet market in Wuhan is unlikely because no animal tested at the wet market had Covid19 and how could these animals reach Wuhan which is 2000 km away from Guangdong without infecting anyone on the way？On the other hand accidental lab leaks occur quite frequently and many examples are provided with cases in the US， Britain and China。 The Institute of Virology in Wuhan only grudgingly released information when sleuths had uncovered compromising data， their motivation most likely being a fear to see international funding cut because the leak could be seen as neglect。The book reads nearly like a detective story but is not an easy read for someone not familiar with genetics。 However it is definitely worth the effort。 。。。more

Yuvi Panda ，

Helped me utterly change my mind about current evidence for lab leak vs zoonotic natural jump。 I am humbled that I just took general mainstream word for this for a long time。 Lays out a lot of evidence debunking the pangolin theory， as well as origination set at the wet market。I hope more active investigation happens within my lifetime。A strong reminder to apply critical thinking to everything I read。

Sigurgeir Jónasson ，

Áhugaverð lesning og farið í saumana á hlutunum。 Það er ljóst að nokkrir einstaklingar hafa eflaust eitthvað að fela。。

Bernard Lavallee ，

GreatThis book hits the nail squarely where it belongs … in China。 They continue to hide and or remove any scientific data that might implicate them。

John ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Excellent investigation of the problematic lack of clarity， misdirection and avoidance experienced by those seeking to investigate the undertakings of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Communist authorities， as well as their western associates。 It does not prove that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a lab leak， and does not try to prove that an even more malign source， that of deliberate creation and spread by scientists， was the case。 What it does highlight is the questionable practice Excellent investigation of the problematic lack of clarity， misdirection and avoidance experienced by those seeking to investigate the undertakings of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Communist authorities， as well as their western associates。 It does not prove that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a lab leak， and does not try to prove that an even more malign source， that of deliberate creation and spread by scientists， was the case。 What it does highlight is the questionable practices being undertaken in labs across the world and the lack of accountability for these institutes undertakings。 The furore around the book also further demonstrates the sad times we live in when people’s view of the issues raised in the book is almost universally determined by their political beliefs and position on the role of the United States and China in the world。 。。。more

Andy May ，

The other reviews are quite good and I agree with them， but one additional important point the book makes:Chan and Ridley do not accuse China or WIV of deliberately releasing the virus， in their opinion the release， if it happened， was accidental。 However， the absurd secrecy imposed by the Chinese government is odd， if they have nothing to hide。 The location of the cave where RaTG13 came from is well known but remains strictly off limits to journalists， scientists， and people who try and approac The other reviews are quite good and I agree with them， but one additional important point the book makes:Chan and Ridley do not accuse China or WIV of deliberately releasing the virus， in their opinion the release， if it happened， was accidental。 However， the absurd secrecy imposed by the Chinese government is odd， if they have nothing to hide。 The location of the cave where RaTG13 came from is well known but remains strictly off limits to journalists， scientists， and people who try and approach the mine。 Invariably people who try to approach the mine are followed and detained by police。 Requests by WHO and the CDC to participate and help in the Chinese investigations into the origins of SARS-CoV-2 have been denied。 Likewise requests for critical data are denied。No matter that there is no conclusive evidence for the lab-leak theory or the natural theory， there is no excuse to withhold evidence and data on the origin of SARS-CoV-2。 The virus caused death， suffering， and loss worldwide。 China has an ethical obligation to share whatever it can to help find the cause。 Withholding data and access to the likely origin point only makes them look guilty and helps no one。The book is well organized， illuminating， and well written， as we would expect from Matt Ridley。 The book is authoritative due to the eminent credentials of Dr。 Alina Chan。 I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the source of COVID-19， which is probably everyone。 。。。more

Brad Bevers ，

Matt Ridley's "The Rational Optimist" is one of my favorite books， so I picked this up when I heard he had written and researched a book on the pandemic origins。 He and his co-author do an outstanding job of clearing away the smoke and telling the story of how Covid could have started。 The authors don't come across as having an agenda they are pushing， but rather just review the evidence carefully。 Regardless of where you land on the origins debate or even importance， this book is well worth rea Matt Ridley's "The Rational Optimist" is one of my favorite books， so I picked this up when I heard he had written and researched a book on the pandemic origins。 He and his co-author do an outstanding job of clearing away the smoke and telling the story of how Covid could have started。 The authors don't come across as having an agenda they are pushing， but rather just review the evidence carefully。 Regardless of where you land on the origins debate or even importance， this book is well worth reading。 This will make you realize how few real journalists are left， who are willing to follow the story where it leads。 。。。more

Gerhard ，

First of all， there is no ‘smoking gun’ revelation in this book。 I was startled to realise by the end （at the 65% mark of the Kindle version） that everything relayed by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley is common knowledge， especially if you have been following all of the debates， exposures and revelations on Twitter。 I must say that what this book does do very well is collate the wide swathe of this information， scattered as it has been over two years now， and present it in a highly readable， lucid an First of all， there is no ‘smoking gun’ revelation in this book。 I was startled to realise by the end （at the 65% mark of the Kindle version） that everything relayed by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley is common knowledge， especially if you have been following all of the debates， exposures and revelations on Twitter。 I must say that what this book does do very well is collate the wide swathe of this information， scattered as it has been over two years now， and present it in a highly readable， lucid and quite damning account。What has been established is that six miners fell mysteriously ill in 2012 after removing bat guano in Mojiang。 They succumbed to RaTG13， the sarbecovirus sample taken from the copper mine in 2013。 This sample was sent to the Wuhan Institute of Virology （WIV）， which subsequently discovered eight other sarbecoviruses at the mine， representing a previously unknown virus family。The full genome of RaTG13 was sequenced by 2018。 SARS-CoV-2， or Covid-19， was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019， with Lancet reporting that the first coronavirus case was clinically diagnosed on 1 December 2019。The first SARS-CoV-2 genome was obtained on 27 December 2019， with whistle-blowers at Wuhan Central Hospital sounding the alarm about human-to-human transmission on 30 December 2019。 This resulted in a Chinese crackdown on 1 January 2020， with whistle-blower Dr。 Li Wenliang （who subsequently died from Covid-19） being interrogated by Chinese police and forced to sign a ‘confession to wrongdoing’。At this point， all patient samples were ordered destroyed by the Chinese， while Sinopharm was given the go-ahead to start to develop a vaccine。 Dr。 Zhang Yongzhen uploaded the SARS-CoV-2 genome to the international GenBank database on 7 January 2020。 This was initially embargoed until July， can you believe it， but following Dr。 Zhang’s 7 January Nature paper， the genome was posted online。Meanwhile， on 13 January 2020 we had the first Covid-19 case outside of China， a traveller from Wuhan to Thailand。 On 14 January 2020， the WHO announced that China had found “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission”。 This was， indeed， confirmed by the Chinese government itself on 20 January 2020， with Wuhan going into lockdown on 23 January 2020。It is quite chilling to read the following passage:As people around the world watched the drastic measures being taken in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei – emergency hospitals erected at unimaginable speed， cases forcibly isolated in special centres， fifty-six million people locked into their homes for more than two months under harsh restrictions and enforcement – they experienced a mix of envy and horror at the unchallenged power of a totalitarian state to contain a virus outbreak。 Few of us realised what was in store for the world。Despite this now indisputable chain of events， China went to extraordinary measures to conceal the case of the six miners and the very existence of RaTG13。 If this was indeed sequenced as early as 2018 – some even suggest 2017 – it could have given the world a heads-up well before Covid-19 became a global pandemic。What’s more， little to nothing is known of the eight other sarbecoviruses discovered at Mojiang。 What is also not known is what transpired between the samples being submitted to the WIV and the eventual outbreak of Covid-19。 China has gone to extraordinary measures to restrict access to the mine， with the WHO recently given a highly-sanitised tour of the WIV to reassure an increasingly nervous world that it was not an engineered bioweapon nor the result of an accidental lab leak。 Complicating the picture is the ‘gain of function’ research that the US embarked upon， in conjunction with the WIV， which even received funding from the US itself in this regard。 Here the authors， quite rightfully， state that “More voices are calling for a systematic and transparent review of the crucial information that exists outside of China”。 This is a veiled reference to the EcoHealth Alliance， which has “closely collaborated with the WIV on the surveillance of bat viruses for many years …”So can we figure out exactly what happened？ Clearly much of China’s obfuscation has been the kneejerk reaction of a totalitarian state unused to the demands of scientific transparency and the swift action needed in the face of such a global crisis。 “The reader may want to know what the authors of this book think happened。 Of course， we do not know for sure。” This is quickly followed by: “However， we now think it very possible that the pandemic did result from the work of scientists either when collecting samples in the field or when working with those samples in a laboratory。”Fair enough。 The authors do provide a chilling account of accidents and mishaps in BSL 4-level labs， so such a scenario is entirely plausible。 But I think it is a step too far to declare that “… the current circumstances and the sparse evidence available demand that natural and laboratory-based origins are both treated as likely。” Prior to this statement， there is the below passage in the book:One concern， expressed by Alina in a tweet after the press conference， was that the handling of the investigation showed the world that a country could get a free pass if a virus escaped from one its laboratories so long as it took care to give outsiders access to records and data， but simply asserted that all was well。This statement really jumped out at me， because here the authors clearly take sides in the debate。 Their stance is hinted at subtly throughout the book， before it becomes as overtly polemical as the above quote。 Much earlier on: “We think – as Alina said on Twitter in May 2020 – ‘there is zero evidence that confirms that the SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 PRRA（R） FCS arose naturally or artificially， but neither scenario can be ruled out。”The book concludes with two speculative chapters outlining a defence case for and against the lab-leak hypothesis。 This seems to give the authors licence to go full conspiracy theory， with such alarming statements as: “… there is no direct evidence of a natural origin of the Covid-19 pandemic。” Plus: “… there has been no explanation of how it came to be so adept at spreading among humans。”One would think that after setting up the entire book as a mea culpa case for the lab-leak theory， the authors would stick to their guns， but the final chapter contains this back-tracking gem: “But why should the burden of proof be with those who posit a laboratory leak？ True， there has been no major pandemic caused by a laboratory leak， so it would be a first。”More alarming and insidious， however， is the statement below:Long articles by journalists Nathan Robinson in Current Affiars and Donald McNeil Jr in Medium both made the argument that the political left had been too quick to dismiss the possibility of a laboratory leak。 ‘I have often warned that liberals and leftists should be careful not to assume conservatives are always wrong about facts’ …I was curious as to whether or not my reaction to this book was reflected in other reviews。 This from The Washington Post:One of the things a good professional scientist does is take his or her cherished hypothesis and try to break it every which way， by conducting experiments or hunting for data that does not agree with it。 This is a way to avoid confirmation bias， the natural human tendency to hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest。 A key property of scientific theories is that they can be proved wrong。 Unfortunately， it is hard to imagine such evidence that would convince strong partisans of either laboratory or natural origins。 And too much of “Viral” is made up of confirmation bias。 Nobody should mistake this book for an evenhanded scientific document。 。。。more

Jeff Sandoval ，

A story worthy of its time Fantastic account of the origins of Covid-19。 A must read for those interested in truly understanding the nuances within the debate of where the pandemic could have originated。

Taimo Kolsar ，

Although the authors never say it out directly， according to the facts they present， the story is pretty clear。 The chinese found some interesting viruses from the cave and while keeping it quiet， made crazy gene manipulation experiments to pump up the contagiousness to humans （sounds like bioweapon）。 This went beyond all expectations very well， as we all can see from the accidental outbreak and ever expanding pandemic。

Don Lim ，

An important preface: keep in mind that I have not kept up with the latest developments between the zoonosis and lab leak hypotheses。 Dr。 Chan and Viscount Ridley have provided the most up-to-date information on the major credible theories related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus。On the zoonosis side， they examine the Wuhan wet market。 They follow the frozen meat hypothesis， dubbed the Popsicle Origin。 Among live animals， they look for potential pangolin origins， civet origins， and lastly， b An important preface: keep in mind that I have not kept up with the latest developments between the zoonosis and lab leak hypotheses。 Dr。 Chan and Viscount Ridley have provided the most up-to-date information on the major credible theories related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus。On the zoonosis side， they examine the Wuhan wet market。 They follow the frozen meat hypothesis， dubbed the Popsicle Origin。 Among live animals， they look for potential pangolin origins， civet origins， and lastly， bat origins。 On the lab leak side， they followed internet sleuths who put together the missing pieces of the viruses that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was collecting--and how eight closely related viruses to COVID-19 were hidden from the world for nearly a year。 Other obfuscations by Chinese scientists and the Chinese government in scientific publications， virus databases， and the mishandling of early COVID-19 cases are potentially suggestive behaviors of individuals with something to hide when transparency and cooperation should have been the number one priority。 More telling is the fact that despite over a year of tracking animals in the Wuhan wet market and across China， not a single specimen was found carrying the COVID-19 virus， or a related virus close enough to consider the zoonotic transmission。 On the genetic level， COVID-19 possesses a furin cleavage site （read the book for a better explanation on what it is and why it is so significant）。 Of all the sarbecoviruses found and analyzed， only COVID-19 possesses this unique trait。Though there is no definitive evidence yet on the origins of the COVID-19 virus， all hypotheses must be examined as thoroughly as possible。 However， even if the lab leak theory is proven to be false， scientists must still be cautious about performing gain-of-function research on dangerous bacteria and viruses， as Chan and Ridley warns。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0