Lancet article calls for ‘objective, open and transparent’ debate over COVID-19 origins

Lancet medical journal article calls for “objective” and “transparent” debate about SARS-CoV-2 virus origins, months after condemning “conspiracy theories” about a possible China lab leak.

"Overwhelming evidence for either a zoonotic or research-related origin is lacking: the jury is still out," they wrote. "On the basis of the current scientific literature, complemented by our own analyses of coronavirus genomes and proteins, we hold that there is currently no compelling evidence to choose between a natural origin (ie, a virus that has evolved and been transmitted to humans solely via contact with wild or farmed animals) and a research-related origin (which might have occurred at sampling sites, during transportation or within the laboratory, and might have involved natural, selected or engineered viruses)."

The authors criticized a controversial "statement in support of the scientists" article published by The Lancet in February of 2020 that declared, "We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin." That letter, signed by 27 experts, warned that the sharing of data on the COVID-19 outbreak was being "threatened by rumors and misinformation" surrounding its origins.