No Evidence COVID-19 Coronavirus Was Genetically Engineered in a Lab – Epidemic Has a Natural Origin

COVID-19 Coronavirus Electron Microscopy

Electron microscopy photo of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Scripps Research’s analysis of public genome sequence data from SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered.

The novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, last year and has since caused a large-scale COVID-19 epidemic and spread to more than 70 other countries is the product of natural evolution, according to findings published yesterday (March 17, 2020) in the journal Nature Medicine.

The analysis of public genome sequence data from SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered.

“By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that SARS-CoV-2 originated through natural processes,” said Kristian Andersen, Ph.D., an associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research and corresponding author on the paper.

In addition to Andersen, authors on the paper, “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” include Robert F. Garry, of Tulane University; Edward Holmes, of the University of Sydney; Andrew Rambaut, of University of Edinburgh; W. Ian Lipkin, of Columbia University.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illnesses ranging widely in severity. The first known severe illness caused by a coronavirus emerged with the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in China. A second outbreak of severe illness began in 2012 in Saudi Arabia with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

On December 31 of last year, Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organization of an outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus causing severe illness, which was subsequently named SARS-CoV-2. As of February 20, 2020, nearly 167,500 COVID-19 cases have been documented, although many more mild cases have likely gone undiagnosed. The virus has killed over 6,600 people.

Shortly after the epidemic began, Chinese scientists sequenced the genome of SARS-CoV-2 and made the data available to researchers worldwide. The resulting genomic sequence data has shown that Chinese authorities rapidly detected the epidemic and that the number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing because of human-to-human transmission after a single introduction into the human population. Andersen and collaborators at several other research institutions used this sequencing data to explore the origins and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 by focusing in on several tell-tale features of the virus.

The scientists analyzed the genetic template for spike proteins, armatures on the outside of the virus that it uses to grab and penetrate the outer walls of human and animal cells. More specifically, they focused on two important features of the spike protein: the receptor-binding domain (RBD), a kind of grappling hook that grips onto host cells, and the cleavage site, a molecular can opener that allows the virus to crack open and enter host cells.

Evidence for natural evolution

The scientists found that the RBD portion of the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins had evolved to effectively target a molecular feature on the outside of human cells called ACE2, a receptor involved in regulating blood pressure. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was so effective at binding the human cells, in fact, that the scientists concluded it was the result of natural selection and not the product of genetic engineering.

This evidence for natural evolution was supported by data on SARS-CoV-2’s backbone – its overall molecular structure. If someone were seeking to engineer a new coronavirus as a pathogen, they would have constructed it from the backbone of a virus known to cause illness. But the scientists found that the SARS-CoV-2 backbone differed substantially from those of already known coronaviruses and mostly resembled related viruses found in bats and pangolins.

“These two features of the virus, the mutations in the RBD portion of the spike protein and its distinct backbone, rule out laboratory manipulation as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2,” said Andersen.

Josie Golding, Ph.D., epidemics lead at UK-based Wellcome Trust, said the findings by Andersen and his colleagues are “crucially important to bring an evidence-based view to the rumors that have been circulating about the origins of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) causing COVID-19.”

“They conclude that the virus is the product of natural evolution,” Golding adds, “ending any speculation about deliberate genetic engineering.”

Possible origins of the virus

Based on their genomic sequencing analysis, Andersen and his collaborators concluded that the most likely origins for SARS-CoV-2 followed one of two possible scenarios.

In one scenario, the virus evolved to its current pathogenic state through natural selection in a non-human host and then jumped to humans. This is how previous coronavirus outbreaks have emerged, with humans contracting the virus after direct exposure to civets (SARS) and camels (MERS). The researchers proposed bats as the most likely reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 as it is very similar to a bat coronavirus. There are no documented cases of direct bat-human transmission, however, suggesting that an intermediate host was likely involved between bats and humans.

In this scenario, both of the distinctive features of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein—the RBD portion that binds to cells and the cleavage site that opens the virus up—would have evolved to their current state prior to entering humans. In this case, the current epidemic would probably have emerged rapidly as soon as humans were infected, as the virus would have already evolved the features that make it pathogenic and able to spread between people.

In the other proposed scenario, a non-pathogenic version of the virus jumped from an animal host into humans and then evolved to its current pathogenic state within the human population. For instance, some coronaviruses from pangolins, armadillo-like mammals found in Asia and Africa, have an RBD structure very similar to that of SARS-CoV-2. A coronavirus from a pangolin could possibly have been transmitted to a human, either directly or through an intermediary host such as civets or ferrets.

Then the other distinct spike protein characteristic of SARS-CoV-2, the cleavage site, could have evolved within a human host, possibly via limited undetected circulation in the human population prior to the beginning of the epidemic. The researchers found that the SARS-CoV-2 cleavage site, appears similar to the cleavage sites of strains of bird flu that has been shown to transmit easily between people. SARS-CoV-2 could have evolved such a virulent cleavage site in human cells and soon kicked off the current epidemic, as the coronavirus would possibly have become far more capable of spreading between people.

Study co-author Andrew Rambaut cautioned that it is difficult if not impossible to know at this point which of the scenarios is most likely. If the SARS-CoV-2 entered humans in its current pathogenic form from an animal source, it raises the probability of future outbreaks, as the illness-causing strain of the virus could still be circulating in the animal population and might once again jump into humans. The chances are lower of a non-pathogenic coronavirus entering the human population and then evolving properties similar to SARS-CoV-2.

Reference: “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2” by Kristian G. Andersen, Andrew Rambaut, W. Ian Lipkin, Edward C. Holmes and Robert F. Garry, 17 March 2020, Nature Medicine.
DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9

Funding for the research was provided by the US National Institutes of Health, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Wellcome Trust, the European Research Council, and an ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship.

23 Comments on "No Evidence COVID-19 Coronavirus Was Genetically Engineered in a Lab – Epidemic Has a Natural Origin"

  1. Gordon Jenkins | March 18, 2020 at 6:14 pm | Reply

    The Headline is false and disingenuous. Please Google Corona virus and HIV homology in RaTG13 strain by Dr Paul Cottrell

  2. Or so the Germans Chinese would have us believe.

  3. Not to mention the Indian team who first broke it. This is false propaganda trying to coverup the origin. The ACE2 receptor was profiled on 60 min as well … its taken from HIV insertions for the very reason it’s easily received in the body’s cells .. they found 4 insertions (impossible in Nature!). that’s why they engineer it as a bio weapon .. it’s highly infectious. This kind of coverup is criminal. In fact the NIH’s own material states that Corona virus ‘wild strains’ lack the ability to cause pandemics .. but gene edited viruses with “gain of function” capabilities certainly do. Columbia University, et al, make me puke!
    ..not that these comments will probably last long after “moderation”.

  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZUBdq6ksLc Dr Paul Cottrell provides evidence SARS Covid-19 was bioengineered.

  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voShg3iiT4U Dutchsince, so why the needed distraction? So drillers can get away with Dome Tea Party II?

  6. A wise man once said, after the development of the internet: “The great thing about this new phenonemon (the internet)is that you can always find someone to agree with any idea that you support, no matter how irrational, untrue, or downright outlandish it is.”
    I wonder how many of you are also Trump and Pompeo fans, and think that Fox News is a source of truth, and that the President never lies?

    • Hey genious Hunter Biden , Joe Biden are 100% scum…fhere is so much evidence and people who were involved are telling there story..I bet you love Pelosi what a scank lier as well. Its a joke the Libs omg open up all our borders let them all in..come on in wtf moron…

  7. Fauci was asked if COVID19 might have escaped from Wuhan lab.

    He said the Wuhan lab harvested all its viruses from bats in the wild, so the virus was technically “wild,” and the question was therefore moot. (???)

    Does this man think we are ALL idiots?

    It turns out that Fauci himself was responsible for setting up the Wuhan lab.

    No wonder he is using such tortured rhetoric to defend the Chinese.

    The real science deniers are the ones whose “science” might put them in jail for mass murder.

  8. As always, you have to please the financiers of the study. This was a lab engineered virus. Why was it not lab engineered?

  9. Those referencing Dr. Paul Cottrell as a credible source should please note that his doctorate is in finance. He did complete a pre-med program, and is a candidate for biology. But, he is by no means an expert in biology nor medicine.

    I learned this by reading the autobiographical data he published on his website: https://the-studio-reykjavik.com/about

  10. Pure horseschitt…

  11. It didn’t seem likely it was created in a lab.
    Was the Black Death a lab creation? Or the Spanish flu?

    “Natural evolution” is maybe, an appropriate term. The virus is natural. We humans were the ones who created an artificial world where our population has skyrocketed to 7.6 billion animals of one single species- and one where masses of people can shoot halfway across the world and mix with each other in a day’s time. We’re extremely suceptible to epidemic just for that reason.
    Not to mention countries like America which have no public health system, and widespread disinformation and refusal to follow simple procedures… which quickly became hotbeds for the epidemic.

  12. The article states the finding were by Scripps Research.
    I googled them to see whose money is behind them.

    The NIOH, and “other” federal agencies, and guess who? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Contracts provide funding too.

    Here is more…

    Grants and contracts provide funding for a significant portion of the institute’s research. This revenue is derived primarily from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.

    Gifts from individuals and private foundations provide an important source of funding for Scripps Research. Private foundations that have provided support include the ALSAM Foundation, Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust, W.M. Keck Foundation, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ellison Medical Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Harold L. Dorris Foundation.

    The establishment of the Scripps Florida campus was made possible by a one-time $310 million appropriation of federal economic development funds and by the Florida State Legislature and by an economic package provided by Palm Beach County.

  13. The virus is man made.

    This is exactly where the virus came from.

    https://youtu.be/3DAI3c9wE0Q

    This was published in March 2020.

    Its 9 minutes long.

    Read the video content description in the drop down menu.

    It gives the speakers credentials.

    It also source references the content, with links to those academic papers.

    Its an official, legal document, chain of command paper trail that starts at Fort Dietrich, then goes to the university of north Carolina, where its enhanced to make it more cintageous and more lethal, and the university’s new research facility is paid for by the Chinese under the condition of the Chinese having their people there to assist or lead the project.

    From there it goes to Wuhan.

    This should help clarify things for everyone.
    —————–

    Then this next one proves that …

    US hospitals intentionally killing non covid patients. As witnessed, with video proof by Nurses on duty.

    https:/,(youtu.be/8VFngRmp1HE

  14. I am thankful for these people voicing their opinion.
    Now I don’t feel so alone

  15. This man Kristian G Anderson KNEW this was Engineered and you were Lying to Americans!

  16. May I point out again that the Covid 19 virus emergency has led to many people being socially isolated and left to their own devices scanning Web sites. Also that the winter weather is keeping many people indoors as well.

  17. I read their paper. They’ve been tinkering with this Chimera since at least 2014

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