Biosafety

Here's a long, detailed argument from a molecular biologist at MIT that Covid-19 originated in an accidental leak from the laboratory in Wuhan.  We've discussed this before. Other analyses support a natural origin, and all we can say right now is that we don't know. But nailing down the exact truth isn't really important when we're considering policy. It's enough to know that it might have happened.

Before I say more, we do need to be clear about one thing. If the virus was created in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, it escaped by accident. It was not a plot of any kind, nor was the lab engaged in research related to biological weapons. Furthermore, the United States did not fund the relevant research, and here's what the reviewer of the proposal wrote:

(DURC stands for Dual Use Research of Concern, which is a bit of a euphemism. According to NIH "Biological research is considered ‘dual-use’ in nature if the methodologies, materials, or results could be used to cause harm.") And that's the real point here. It appears that biosecurity measures at the Wuhan Institute were not up to standards required in the U.S.  Conducting any "gain of function" research that might enhance the transmissibility or virulence of a virus or microorganism has been controversial in the U.S., but regardless of whether researchers are intentionally editing genomes for gain of function, the safety standards for research with any dangerous entity (viruses are not really organisms) are very strict. 

Just forbidding that sort of research is not really an answer. The whole point is that novel pathogens will emerge naturally, and we need to be prepared. But we don't have any control over the safety standards in other countries, and certainly not China. So Anthony Fauci doesn't have anything to answer for, (Sorry, Alex Jones) although a lot of people in China might. And yes, I suppose it's not entirely paranoid to worry about Vladimir Putin or the like ordering the creation of a novel pathogen along with an effective vaccine, immunizing his own population, and then releasing it on an adversary. After all, the English colonists practiced biological warfare by intentionally infecting indigenous people with smallpox, so it's not like it's beyond human nature.

I'm not losing sleep over this just yet, but it does remind us that technological progress is as much bad as it is good, at least until we develop more wisdom as a species.