There have been conspiracy theories related to viruses for decades. One of the most ignorant theories was spread by that Nobel Laureate Virology & Epidemiologist Dr. Rush Limbaugh. With such an established biomedical pedigree to back his statements he made the claim that the virus causing this pandemic was something that was developed as a biomedical weapon by the Chinese. As I searched for his Doctoral Thesis relating to this field of study I discovered to my surprise that there isn’t one. Yet, there he is, spreading his ignorance to his minions who live and breathe by his every utterance. To those who follow him, there is no need to use evidence to support their theory. It is only a matter of trust, and blind belief.
There are lots of other theories out there. Big Pharma has released the virus so they can sell their cures. Bill Gates was somehow involved. We all know that in China, people spend their Sunday afternoon feasting on bat soup. It’s out there, all you have to do is search the internet. Pity the fool that wants to find out the truth.
At this point, the big theory floating around on mainly conservative broadcasts and websites is that the virus was engineered in one of the labs in Wuhan and somehow was released to an unsuspecting public. There are two distinct parts of this theory. One which has been debunked scientifically by the worlds most educated researches in the field, and one that, although unlikely, has still not been proven to be true or false. By the way, it can only be one. It’s either true, or it’s false.
First, in an earlier post I provided information from virologists working on the virus genome (fancy word for genetic backbone of the virus). The virus causing this pandemic has a genomic backbone that is 96% identical to that of viruses found in the natural world. What that means is that it has not been manufactured in a lab. The lab for this virus was the ebb and flow of viral evolution of successive generations of the virus. I have recently discovered that no known lab on the planet was working of a coronavirus like this. One virologists noted that “if you wanted to release a bioweapon to kill a lot of people, there are deadlier pathogens you could use”
A recent article in the medical journal Lancet states that “Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, and they overwhelmingly conclude that this virus originated in wildlife”. In addition, our spy agencies have ruled out that the virus was man-made. This tends to put a lid on Trumps recent comment about the Wuhan source where he stated that “there are a lot of strange things happening over there”.
At this time, our CIA and others are trying to determine if the virus escaped from the lab in Wuhan. At this time, while weighing evidence that an employee could have become accidentally infected and left the facility with the virus they responded with the following “It is a possibility, though not the most likely possibility.”
So here is where we are. At this point we have no proof that it escaped the lab. That doesn’t mean that proof won’t be developed. But until we reach that point, take a deep breath, and consider sources before coming to any conclusion. In the meantime, thousands are dying.
Independent Investigations 