# Long but Informative Article on the Origins of the Virus **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [May 18, 2021, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353 "2021-05-18T08:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/102 "2021-06-09T16:05:53Z")
It looks like David Baltimore regrets his “smoking gun” comment about the furin site in that article. > Here’s the problem: Baltimore regrets using the phrase “smoking gun” to describe his conclusion, and doesn’t agree that it validates the lab-leak theory. > > Baltimore told me by email that he made the statement to Wade, also by email, and granted him permission to use it in print. But he added that he “should have softened the phrase ‘smoking gun’ because I don’t believe that it proves the origin of the furin cleavage site but it does sound that way. I believe that the question of whether the sequence was put in naturally or by molecular manipulation is very hard to determine but I wouldn’t rule out either origin.” > Experienced virologists heavily favor the natural-spillover theory. That’s because the phenomenon has been common throughout history, accounting for the spread of most viruses and indeed for most pandemics. The direct animal source hasn’t been identified; it’s not unusual for investigations of that nature to take years. SARS2 has been known to scientists for only about 18 months. > No one denies that a lab leak is possible. But the theory presupposes a complex series of events coming together perfectly in a Chinese lab — secrecy and coordination, perhaps abetted by extreme sloppiness, or even deliberate malevolence. > > **Balancing the commonplace nature of animal-human spillover against the complex assumptions required by the lab-leak theory, virologists say, tips the scales in favor of the former.** > **[Column: A Nobel laureate backs off from claiming a 'smoking gun' for the...](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-08/nobel-laureate-baltimore-smoking-gun-for-the-covid-lab-leak-theory)** > > David Baltimore was quoted as finding a 'smoking gun' for the lab-leak theory of COVID-19's origins. He wishes he hadn't said that. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/103 "2021-06-15T22:16:13Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > I can’t actually find any reputable ones that support Wade’s findings, but a boatload who denounce it. I read the article by Wade on the Origin of Covid-19 before I knew he is a racist, based on his book on race and evolution. I Looked up references in the Covid origins article, and checked the credentials of the authors and referenced publications (like The Lancet and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists). I also looked up political and funding connections. I don’t think this article should be canceled: > **[The origin of COVID: Did people or nature open Pandora’s box at Wuhan?](https://thebulletin.org/2021/05/the-origin-of-covid-did-people-or-nature-open-pandoras-box-at-wuhan/)** > > If the case that SARS2 originated in a lab is so substantial, why isn’t this more widely known? As is now obvious, there are many people who have reason not to talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/104 "2021-06-16T15:52:52Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > I Looked up references in the Covid origins article, and checked the credentials of the authors and referenced publications (like The Lancet and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists). I also looked up political and funding connections. What did you find? ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/105 "2021-06-18T01:21:07Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > What did you find? I found that the article’s references check out and it’s credible. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/106 "2021-06-18T18:50:21Z")
Well, I know I’m convinced. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/107 "2021-06-18T21:32:59Z")
Did you read the article? It’s possible that covid-19 underwent gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and escaped. > **[What is Gain-of-Function Research?](https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Gain-of-Function-Research.aspx)** > > Gain-of-function research is the serial passaging of microorganisms to increase transmissibility, virulence, immunogenicity, and host tropism. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/108 "2021-06-18T23:13:02Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > It’s possible that covid-19 underwent gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and escaped. It’s possible that invisible pink unicorns farted out the virus. Some evidence would be nice, in any of the threads where you are now pushing gain of function research as if it’s some earth shattering thing that will convince us all. I will state that the NIH and NIAID both said, pretty adamantly, that they did not fund any such research, contrary to what the racist shit-stain Wade would like for us to believe. So, are you of the opinion that what we are dealing with was engineered and that the engineering and subsequent release was covered up by both the US and China in tandem? ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/109 "2021-06-18T23:18:35Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > Did you read the article? It’s possible that covid-19 underwent gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and escaped. As I stated in the other thread - [A theory I saw about how COVID may have escaped from the Wuhan lab - #262 by Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-theory-i-saw-about-how-covid-may-have-escaped-from-the-wuhan-lab/933082/262) ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/110 "2021-06-18T23:21:17Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > It’s possible that invisible pink unicorns farted out the virus This is my exit ramp on this thread. There are other more interesting threads on this topic in the QZ. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/111 "2021-06-22T19:55:36Z")
The problem is that “it’s possible” is a huge, smeared-out phrase that can run the gamut from “highly unlikely” to “almost certain”. We really would rather not stare at indistinct bluriness. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353/112 "2021-10-09T16:45:36Z")
Some related news about covid found in sewage and blood samples weeks or months before it was identified, e.g., found in samples from March 2019, test kits in China ordered back in May 2019, and so on, and part of one summit on universal flu vaccines from October, 2019: > **[Coronavirus traces found in March 2019 sewage sample, Spanish study shows](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-science-idUSKBN23X2HQ)** > > Spanish virologists have found traces of the novel coronavirus in a sample of Barcelona waste water collected in March 2019, nine months before the COVID-19 disease was identified in China, the University of Barcelona said on Friday. > **[Italy sewage study suggests COVID-19 was there in December 2019](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-sewage-idUKKBN23Q1J9)** > > Scientists in Italy have found traces of the new coronavirus in wastewater collected from Milan and Turin in December 2019 - suggesting COVID-19 was already circulating in northern Italy before China reported the first cases. > **[Blood samples offer more evidence COVID-19 was in U.S. by Christmas 2019](https://ktla.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/nationworld/blood-samples-offer-more-evidence-covid-19-was-in-u-s-by-christmas-2019/)** > > A new analysis of blood samples from 24,000 Americans taken early last year is the latest and largest study to suggest that the new coronavirus popped up in the U.S. in December 2019 — weeks before… > **[Virus May Have Arrived in U.S. in December, but Didn’t Spread Until Later...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/health/coronavirus-december-arrival.html)** > > Blood samples collected in mid-December indicate possible infections more than a month before the known first case of Covid-19, but do not show community transmission. > **[Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic Is Sought in Old Blood Samples](https://www.wsj.com/articles/origin-of-covid-19-pandemic-is-sought-in-old-blood-samples-11617874200)** > > Frozen specimens stored in China and elsewhere could show how long the new coronavirus had been circulating before the first cases were discovered. > **[China PCR test orders soared before first confirmed COVID case](https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/China-PCR-test-orders-soared-before-first-confirmed-COVID-case)** > > Report on government contracts show surges in Wuhan-area purchases from May 2019 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EMLmCV_rjHI/hqdefault.jpg "Fraudchi") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMLmCV_rjHI) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-but-informative-article-on-the-origins-of-the-virus/942353.md?page=5)