The harms of promoting the lab leak hypothesis for SARS-CoV-2 origins without evidence.
James AlwineFelicia D GoodrumBruce W BanfieldDavid C BloomWilliam J BrittAndrew J BroadbentSamuel K CamposArturo CasadevallGary C ChanAnna R CliffeTerence S DermodyW Paul DuprexLynn W EnquistKlaus FruehAdam P GeballeMarta Maria GagliaStephen GoldsteinAlexander L GreningerGigi Kwick GronvallJae U JungJeremy P KamilSeema S LakdawalaShan-Lu LiuMicah A LuftigJohn P MooreAnne MosconaBenjamin W NeumanJanko Ž NikolichChristine M O'ConnorAndrew S PekoszSallie R PermarJulie K PfeifferJohn G PurdyAngela L RasmussenBert L SemlerGregory A SmithDavid A SteinKoenraad Van DoorslaerSandra K WellerSean P J WhelanAndrew D YurochkoPublished in: Journal of virology (2024)
Science is humanity's best insurance against threats from nature, but it is a fragile enterprise that must be nourished and protected. The preponderance of scientific evidence indicates a natural origin for SARS-CoV-2. Yet, the theory that SARS-CoV-2 was engineered in and escaped from a lab dominates media attention, even in the absence of strong evidence. We discuss how the resulting anti-science movement puts the research community, scientific research, and pandemic preparedness at risk.