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Lab-Leak Theory and the “Asiatic” Form | Issue 42 | n+1 | Andrew Liu

nplusonemag.com · 5,981 words · saved by 2 readers

I could not direct you to the key evidence that exonerates the Wuhan Institute, and it might not exist. But this is also the crucial point. There are too many lacunae in the lab-leak explanation for the theory to stand on its own: proponents must fill the gaps with their own projections and beliefs.

When the pandemic first hit the United States in early 2020, scientists and journalists debating the origins of Covid-19 settled upon a theory of natural transfer. Covid, they concluded, had naturally emerged at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, and crossed over to humans from a wild animal, most likely a pangolin carry-ing diseases from bats. By April 2020, talk of wet markets suddenly dominated news cycles. Most of the talk was xenophobic in tone. A National Review editorial claimed wet markets in China “butchered” meat in “unsanitary” conditions and explained that unhygienic…

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