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Coronavirus lab leak ‘smoking gun unlikely to be found’ in US genetic data trove
- Sequence cannot tell where virus came from and could be counterproductive, HKU molecular biologist says
- But US scientist says unpublished information on pre-2020 work on Sars-related bat coronaviruses could be highly important
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A trove of genetic data gathered by US intelligence agencies is unlikely to definitively prove whether the coronavirus leaked from a lab in central China because much of the evidence is indirect and circumstantial, according to scientific experts.
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CNN cited sources saying US intelligence agencies had gained access to a catalogue of virus information that contained genetic blueprints drawn from virus samples studied at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the facility that some US officials claim could have been the source of the pathogen.
The new coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan in late December 2019 and its origins remain unknown.
In late May, US President Joe Biden ordered intelligence agencies to report back within 90 days on information about the origins of the pathogen.
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Nature or lab leak? Why tracing the origin of Covid-19 matters
Nature or lab leak? Why tracing the origin of Covid-19 matters
Many scientists say the coronavirus most likely spread to humans from animals but some suggest it may have escaped from the institute by human error, laboratory acquired infections or engineered effort. China rejects these claims.
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