Shi herself says that WIV isn't solely a BSL-4 lab and that coronaviruses were handled in BSL-2 prior to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak [0]. The idea that SARS-CoV-2 c

Shi herself says that WIV isn't solely a BSL-4 lab and that coronaviruses were handled in BSL-2 prior to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak [0]. The idea that SARS-CoV-2 couldn't have "grown" (again: ignore intentionality) in the lab shouldn't be discounted. I'm also skeptical of other virologists sticking up for WIV due to social pressure. It would be detrimental to virology everywhere if virologists started giving credence to this idea that samples in the lab may not have been handled perfectly. It's a natural social response to try to defend your profession. What we do have records of is that Shi was researching RaTG13, the closest ancestor we know of to SARS-CoV-2 [1]. A question I want to find the answer to is how samples assumed to have low risk of infectivity to humans were being handled. [0]: https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/Shi%20Zhengli%20Q%26A.pdf https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/Shi%20Zhengli... [1]: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/08/josh-rogin-chaos-under-heaven-wuhan-lab-book-excerpt-474322 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/08/josh-rogin...