Lab Leak or Zoonotic Transfer? Leading Biologists Review COVID-19 Virus Origin Evidence

Amid debate over the origin of SARS-CoV-2, leading biologists worldwide have reviewed the scientific evidence to help clarify the origin of the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans.

Pre-print paper highlights links supporting the virus’ zoonotic origins There is no biological evidence for a lab leak Focus on lab leak diverting attention from work to prevent the next pandemic

An international team of leading biologists, led by Professor Edward Holmes from the University of Sydney and Professor Andrew Rambaut from the University of Edinburgh, has published a critical review article on the origins of SARS-COV-2 as a pre-print on Zenodo.

The article summarizes and assesses the existing scientific evidence for the origin of the virus, which causes COVID-19 in humans, and concludes that its most likely origin is zoonotic – a transmission from an animal source to a human infection. While the authors say a laboratory accident “cannot be completely dismissed,” they emphasize that there is currently no evidence of such a laboratory origin.

Professor Edward Holmes. Credit: University of Sydney

Professor Holmes said: “Our careful and critical analysis of the currently available data provided no evidence for the idea that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a laboratory.”

The review paper says: “There is no evidence that early cases had any connection with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), contrary to the clear epidemiological links with animal markets in Wuhan, nor evidence that the WIV is a precursor to SARS-CoV- 2 prior to the pandemic.”

Rather, it states that “there is a significant body of scientific evidence supporting a zoonotic origin for SARS-CoV-2.”

The 21 leading scientists from universities and research institutes around the world warn that a focus on a highly improbable laboratory origin distracts from the most urgent scientific tasks to “examine the zoonotic origin extensively through collaborative and carefully coordinated studies.”

The authors warn that without a focus on this line of research, the world will be “vulnerable to future pandemics” arising from new viruses.

Reference: “The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review” by Holmes, Edward C; Goldstein, Stephen A; Rasmussen, Angela L; Robertson, David L; Crits-Christoph, Alexander; Wertheim, Joel O; Anthony, Simon J; Barclay, Wendy S; Boni, Maciej F; Doherty, Peter C; Farrar, Jeremy; Geoghegan, Jemma L; Jiang, Xiaowei; Leibowitz, Julian L; Neil, Stuart JD; Skern, Tim; Weiss, Susan R; Worobey, Michael; Andersen, Kristian G; Garry, Robert F; Rambaut, Andrew, July 7, 2021, Zenodo.
DOI: 10.5281 / zenode.5075888

In addition to the University of Sydney and University of Edinburgh, the 21 authors are affiliated with the University of Utah (US), University of Saskatchewan (Canada), University of Glasgow (UK), University of California Berkeley (US), University of California San Diego (US), University of California Davis (US), Imperial College London (UK), Pennsylvania State University (US), the University of Melbourne at the Doherty Institute (Australia), The Wellcome Trust (UK), University of Otago (New Zealand), Jiaotong-Liverpool University (China), Texas A&M University (US), King’s College London at Guy’s Hospital (UK), Medical University of Vienna (Austria), University of Pennsylvania (US), University of Arizona (US) , Scripps Research Institute (US), Tulane University (US), Zalgen Labs (US).

The pre-print paper will be submitted to a leading journal for peer review and publication.