The genesis of the coronavirus, which has killed over 3 million people worldwide, is still unidentified. However, the claim that it originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which was previously regarded as a preposterous conspiracy theory, has received fresh traction in recent months.

Many scientists reacted favourably to President Biden’s surprise request to US intelligence agencies to examine the origins of the coronavirus. They mirrored their recent quest for additional information on the operations of a virus lab in Wuhan, China. However, they warned against expecting a response within the president’s three-month deadline.

The virus’s origin is still unknown. Many experts believe the most plausible possibility is that it moved from an animal to a person in late 2019, presumably at a food market in Wuhan, China. However, some scientists have speculated that it may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Researchers there, like those in other labs, occasionally modify viruses in order to better understand and treat them.

Officials in China have refused to allow an authoritative examination of the lab and have failed to explain why the animal-to-human idea is flawed. The majority of the initial verified cases had no obvious relationship to the food supply chain.

Initially, the World Health Organization disregarded the lab-leak theory as unlikely.

• Dismissals

Global health officials appeared hesitant to confront Chinese officials, who maintain that the virus went from an animal to a person.

Efforts to find a natural source of the virus have been futile. Also, early efforts to draw attention to a lab leak were frequently muddled by conjecture that the virus was purposefully manufactured as a bioweapon. Many scientists were able to dismiss the lab scenario as word salad as a result of it.

A significant timeline of inferences:

• 2020

Botao Xiao, a molecular biomechanics researcher at South China University of Technology, publishes a report claiming that “the killer coronavirus probably originated in a laboratory in Wuhan.” He cited previous safety lapses as well as the type of research conducted at the institute. He removed the document a few weeks later, after Chinese authorities asserted there had been no accident.

Yuri Deigin, a biotech entrepreneur, evaluates “gain-of-function” studies conducted at the lab in a lengthy and detailed Medium article and concludes that “From a technological standpoint, a modern virologist might easily develop such a strain” as the new coronavirus. “The opposing argument is also worth repeating: the inverse theory regarding the virus’s solely natural origin does not currently have good evidence either,” he says.

• 2021

As per Australian publication, “Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers working on coronaviruses were hospitalized in early November 2019 with symptoms compatible with covid-19 in what US officials fear could have been the first cluster.”

“60 Minutes” airs a piece interviewing Metzl and former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger on the ongoing questions regarding the origins of the coronavirus. “There was a direct command from Beijing to destroy any virus samples – and they didn’t volunteer to provide the genetic sequences,” Pottinger claims, citing declassified intelligence data.

Nicholas Wade, a former NY Times reporter, evaluates the material and makes a solid case for the lab-leak thesis. He is particularly interested in the furin cleavage site, which increases viral infectivity in human cells.

In a letter published in the journal Science, 18 eminent scientists argue that a new inquiry is required since “theories of accidental escape from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable.”   

Importance of the theory:

If the virus truly originated in a lab, an immediate disclosure of the data could have resulted in even faster vaccine development and more effective therapies.  

A leak that killed millions of people could result in dramatic reforms to lab safety precautions. 

Confirmation of a leak would have a tremendous impact on the world’s perception of China. It would put pressure on China to carry the responsibility of vaccinating the world as soon as possible.

If the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the epicenter of this once pandemic, the discovery would be a momentous scientific and political event.  

If it is established that a single lab and a few scientists are to blame for one of the greatest human disasters in decades, it is pointless to wish the reckoning away.