COVID-19 novel coronavirus created in a lab… debunked
As with any news about anything happening anywhere in the world, conspiracy theories abound. The Coronavirus was started in a laboratory is yet another example. This theory was started by a study that was published and later redacted. That suggested that the Coronavirus was a manufactured virus composed of elements of the HIV-1 virus. The theory was completely debunked by scientists in a study published on February 14th 2020.
The researchers confirmed earlier scientific reports that the COVID-19 virus is closely related (in this instance 96% identical) to a coronavirus that was previously identified in bats. It also demonstrated that there were zero parts of HIV-1 incorporated into the COVID-19 virus.
The scientists believe that the COVID-19 virus most likely evolved from bat coronaviruses for a number of reasons:
- three out of the four COVID-19 virus parts in question are found in three other coronaviruses that had been previously isolated from bats. This suggest the virus evolved from bats which are eaten in soups in China.
- when these four DNA parts are compared to the DNA of other species, researchers found that these DNA parts are also found in the DNA of mammals, insects, bacteria, and other coronaviruses.
Currently, scientists are working to determine which animal was the original host of COVID-19 and how it crossed the species barrier to humans but the most likely source remains the unsanitary ‘food’ markets containing caged wild animals.
For more information, visit the Federation of American Scientists: https://fas.org/ncov/#1582123671460-149570fc-d24c