by Corinne A. Michels, PhD, Daily Clout:

After years of half-truths and outright falsehoods, facts are emerging about SARS-CoV-2’s origins. The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) purged important genome sequence information from its servers and was not forthcoming regarding their research, so complete details will never be known. Enough can be pieced together for objective molecular geneticists to uncover the likely process used to create the pathogen, and the preponderance of the evidence supports the lab leak hypothesis. The possibility that the pathogen evolved “naturally” from a wild host, such as a bat, is implausible based on both known viral mechanisms of evolution and sequence analysis. Public health officials and others used the “natural evolution” hypothesis to muddy the waters for a trusting public. Individuals trained in genetic engineering techniques can recreate the molecular steps used to create SARS-CoV-2, and its first appearance in the Chinese city of  Wuhan points to the WIV as the likely source. How the pathogen escaped the laboratory is a completely separate issue.