From TPM Reader SM …
I’m a physician and clinical researcher. Viruses are not my specific area, but I have some interest in them and their origins.
I am a bit surprised to see you — and others in the mainstream press — talk about how we “still don’t know” the origins of COVID. While it may be true that we do not strictly know with 100% certainty, the burden of scientific evidence clearly points to a natural species-jumping event at the Wuhan market rather than a lab leak. This study here was published in one of the most world’s most elite journals, and is a sophisticated and thoughtful exploration of the issue. The first author, Michael Worobey, is the guy who did the major work to uncover the origins and early spread patterns of HIV. So he is The Man when it comes to this stuff. And his analysis clearly points to the market.
This kind of scientific evidence trumps any intelligence-based speculation from an agency that — perhaps understandably — doesn’t wanna show its work. The tone of coverage here should be that this came from the Wuhan Market unless somebody provides verifiable evidence to the contrary. The agencies saying otherwise should be deeply questioned regarding how they arrived at their conclusions, and why their judgments should supersede the open, thorough, published analysis of a team of expert scientists. And if they can’t show their work, or at least provide some explanation, then we all ought to be skeptical of any countervailing conclusion.
This story from NPR has it right.
