(May 29, 2021 at 3:28 pm)brewer Wrote: At this point does it really matter where it came from? If from their lab, will the world punish China?
This blame game is a lose-lose.
It could have great implications on gain of function research. The Obama admin put a pause on gain of function research. I'm not necessarily for or against gain of function research, but some scientists are raising questions about whether it should be happening or whether it is too risky and could cause more pandemics like this one, or even worse ones.
If SARS-CoV-2 escaped from the WIV, China is not necessarily the only one to blame. The US and others funded that research at the WIV as well. This is why many think that virologists have been pushing so hard for a natural explanation. Because they don't want the public to turn on them and demand an end to gain of function research. Virologists have all the reason in the world to not want this to come out as having leaked from a lab.
While China would not necessarily be the only one to blame for a lab leak, the Chinese government has taken part in a cover up, causing who knows how much more damage to the world. And I'm not even talking about covering up a lab leak. We still don't know if it came from a lab, but the Chinese government covered up the existence of SARS-CoV-2 for as long as they could, and punished whistleblowers.
