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[return to "Israeli startup claims Covid-19 likely originated in a lab, willing to bet on it"]
1. bearbi+d7[view] [source] 2020-12-30 21:22:08
>>delbar+(OP)
Whenever this topic comes up, the discussion seems to consist largely of _extremely_ strong opinions against the perfectly plausible hypothesis (don't forget, the evidence of zoonotic origin is equally thin on the ground).

My question is, why? What does it matter whether the virus originated from a lab or from a wet market - it isn't any more dangerous if it came from a lab, nor does knowing the origin really help dealing with this crisis at all.

It is certainly interesting to know where it did originate, and that knowledge could inform a debate on the future of (respectively) wet markets and animal husbandry practices, or BSL facilities, but these don't strike me as particularly emotionally charged topics, and in any case the posts I'm referring to don't mention these debates...

Anybody care to explain why you would respond so strongly to claims of lab origin?

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2. krona+Fs[view] [source] 2020-12-30 23:31:13
>>bearbi+d7
it isn't any more dangerous if it came from a lab, nor does knowing the origin really help dealing with this crisis at all.

Viruses used for gain of function research are selected for high rates of mutation and adaption. If we had known this from day one we would likely have made several changes to how to protect against it in the long term, especially with regards to cross-species transmission.

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3. puzzli+2E[view] [source] 2020-12-31 00:58:31
>>krona+Fs
However, the mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2 is thought to be fairly slow for a RNA virus. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02544-6
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