Sir Patrick Vallance among scientists behind paper that stifled debate into the origins of the virus

Top scientists including Sir Patrick Vallance were warned that Covid-19 could have evolved in laboratory animals, but collaborated in a paper which shut down the lab leak theory, it has emerged.

The paper, “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” published in Nature Medicine in March 2020, argued that a natural spillover event caused the pandemic, and was hugely instrumental in stifling debate into the origins of the virus.

But newly released emails from early 2020 show that in the weeks before publication the authors held lengthy discussions with experts, including Sir Patrick and Sir Jeremy Farrar, the head of the Wellcome Trust.

In those discussions, experts were advised that the unusual features seen in Covid-19 could have evolved in animals in a lab, as well as in the wild.

They were also warned that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) had been carrying out research on bat-coronaviruses at worrying levels of biosecurity.

Yet by the time the paper was published, all reference to biosecurity problems in Wuhan had been removed, and the authors argued that lab evolution of the virus was unlikely.

Questions have arisen around the drafting and formulation of the paper since its publication.

The lead author of the paper, Prof Kristian Andersen, of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, had earlier told colleagues that features of the virus looked as if they’d been engineered in a lab.

However, no mention of this was made in the paper.
'Important to stay open-minded'

Commenting on the new emails, which were released under Freedom of Information request, Dr Jeremy Farrar, the director of Wellcome, said: "It is important that we understand how all pathogens emerge so that we can prevent future pandemics.

“In my view, the scientific evidence continues to point to SARS-CoV-2 crossing from animals to humans as the most likely scenario.

“However, as the efforts to gather evidence continue, it is important to stay open-minded and work together internationally to understand the emergence of Covid and variant strains – to end this pandemic and reduce the risks of future events.”

A Government Office for Science spokesperson said: “The Government Chief Scientific Adviser ensures that policies and decisions are informed by the best scientific evidence.

“The GCSA promotes full transparency and an open exchange of ideas and scientific opinion as the email exchange reflects.”

The emails were released following an FOI request from James Tobias, a freelance journalist.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...ks-told-might/