What If Covid-19 Was Made in a Lab?

Where did COVID-19 come from? Some think it originated in this Wuhan wet market. While others think it comes from bats. But could it be possible that COVID-19 was made in a lab? Is it true that COVID-19 is an enginered virus? Or did it accidentally escape?

The lab that COVID-19 could have escaped from is the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This lab deals with some of the most dangerous
viruses in the world. And if it did happen, it wouldn’t be the first time for one of these labs. The SARS virus escaped from high-level containment labs in Beijing multiple times. But is this lab really where COVID-19 came from?

Well, first let’s talk about why people think COVID-19 originated at this lab. The first COVID-19 case was inititally found in this Wuhan wet market. And Since this wet market is just 12 km from the Wuhan virology center, this lab is really the only one in question. Not to mention that it’s the global epicenter of coronavirus research in bats. Since it’s suspected COVID-19 came from bats, there’s been speculation that the virus could have been engineered, and then accidentally escaped from the building.

And if the world were able to confirm that this actually happened, the consequences would be pretty scary. Relations between China and the rest of the world could start to get incredibly hostile. But hopefully, we don’t need to worry about COVID-19 starting any wars. That’s because, no, COVID-19 was not made in a lab. And it didn’t find a way to mysteriously sneak out of the virology center.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was looking for something similar to COVID-19. A bat disease that was harmful to humans. If researchers
found anything like that, they would have published their scientific results immediately. They wouldn’t have waited for it to escape
from their labs. And it was originally reported that the first cases of COVID-19 happened in the Wuhan wet market, but that might not be the case. It was later determined that the first cases had no connection to the animal market.

So, it is possible that someone outside of Wuhan contracted the virus, and brought it to the animal market, where it would be easy for the virus to spread.But that doesn’t mean that any of this was intentional. It’s safe to say that COVID-19 was not genetically engineered. If it were, there would be signs of manipulation in the genome data. And thousands of scientists all around the world have looked at the genome of the virus and haven’t found any evidence of engineering.

If there had been any tampering, it would be pretty obvious. Scientists would need to create their own backbone for the DNA, which can
be detected pretty quickly. Not only that, but being able to create a virus that spreads disease, is nearly impossible. And that’s because scientists don’t know enough about what makes a virus pathogenic just yet. And viruses are extremely complicated. In order to be able to manufacture one, scientists would need to perfectly construct every single molecule in the virus. Just one tiny aspect of the virus altered, and it could end up wildly different.

So it’s safe to say that COVID-19 was not made in a lab. Since the Spanish Flu in the 1900s, scientists have predicted that humanity
will go through another worldwide pandemic. As humanity destroys the natural habitat and makes contact with wildlife, it becomes more likely that we’ll contract diseases from them. And instead of blaming China, or other countries, maybe we can take this opportunity to look at ourselves.

Perhaps countries can use this as a reminder to invest in things like public healthcare, more hospitals, paid sick leave and the protection of wildlfie. Because with the way the world operates, pandemics are almost inevitable. We just need to figure out a better way of handling them.

Sources

• “A Pneumonia Outbreak Associated With A New Coronavirus Of Probable Bat Origin“. Zhou, Peng, Xing-Lou Yang, Xian-Guang Wang, Ben Hu, Lei Zhang, Wei Zhang, and Hao-Rui Si et al. 2020.Nature”The Case Is Building That COVID-19 Had A Lab Origin”.
• “The Case Is Building That COVID-19 Had a Lab Origin “2020. Independent Science News | Food, Health And Agriculture Bioscience
• “Might SARS‐Cov‐2 Have Arisen Via Serial Passage Through An Animal Host Or Cell Culture?“Sirotkin, Karl, and Dan Sirotkin. 2020. . Bioessays.
• ” Covid-19 Pandemic: History, Aetiology, Epidemiology, Vaccinology And Societal Impact-Indian Journals “. 2020. Indianjournals.Com.
• “How We Know The COVID-19 Coronavirus Wasn’t Made In A Lab“. 2020. Business Insider.
• “Evolutionary Origins Of The SARS-Cov-2 Sarbecovirus Lineage Responsible For The COVID-19 Pandemic“. Boni, Maciej F, Philippe Lemey, Xiaowei Jiang, Tommy Tsan-Yuk Lam, Blair Perry, Todd Castoe, Andrew Rambaut, and David L Robertson.
• “No Credible Evidence Supporting Claims Of The Laboratory Engineering Of SARS-Cov-2“. 2020. Emerging Microbes & Infections.