Our picks:COVID-19 origins, Pt. 2Window Is Closing for Key Scientific Studies | A Science in the Shadows | Guide to Investigating Outbreak Origins, and more
· Origins of SARS-CoV-2: Window Is Closing for Key Scientific Studies
· The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review
· The Animal Origin of SARS-CoV-2
· The Covid-19 Lab Leak Hypothesis: Did the Media Fall Victim to a Misinformation Campaign?
· Covid 19: We Need a Full Open Independent Investigation into Its Origins
· A Science in the Shadows
· A Guide to Investigating Outbreak Origins: Nature versus the Laboratory
· The Lab Leak Theory for the Origin of COVID-19 Is Fading
· Delta Variant Proves Covid-19 Lab Leak Theory Is “Extremely Unlikely,” Says Scientist
Editor’s note: This is the second of a 2-part list of the best articles on the origins of COVID-19. See Part 1 here.
Origins of SARS-CoV-2: Window Is Closing for Key Scientific Studies (Marion Koopmans et al., Nature)
Authors of the March WHO report into how COVID-19 emerged warn that further delay makes crucial inquiry biologically difficult.
The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review (Edward Holmes, et al., Cell)
Since the first reports of a novel SARS-like coronavirus in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, there has been intense interest in understanding how SARS-CoV-2 emerged in the human population. Recent debate has coalesced around two competing ideas: a “laboratory escape” scenario and zoonotic emergence. Here, we critically review the current scientific evidence that may help clarify the origin of SARS-CoV-2.
The Animal Origin of SARS-CoV-2 (Spyros Lytras, Science)
Although first detected in December 2019, COVID-19 was inferred to be present in Hubei province, China, for about a month before. Where did this new human disease come from? To understand the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to go back to 2002. At that time a novel respiratory coronavirus appeared in Foshan, Guangdong province, China, and spread to 29 countries. Altogether ~8000 people were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) before public health measures controlled its spread in 2003. The zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV was subsequently linked to live animals available at markets. Further sporadic spillover events of SARS-CoV from animals took place in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and some researchers working with cultured virus were infected in laboratory accidents, but ultimately SARS-CoV was removed from the human population. Trading of susceptible host animals is an important common theme in the origins of SARS and COVID-19.
The Covid-19 Lab Leak Hypothesis: Did the Media Fall Victim to a Misinformation Campaign? (Paul D. Thacker, BMJ)
The theory that SARS-CoV-2 may have originated in a lab was considered a debunked conspiracy theory, but some experts are revisiting it amid calls for a new, more thorough investigation. Paul Thacker explains the dramatic U turn and the role of contemporary science journalism.
