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This Lab-Leak Theory should have been killed in the cradle. This idle speculation about the origin theory of Covid19 only goes to fuel the machinations of conse

This Lab-Leak Theory should have been killed in the cradle. This idle speculation about the origin theory of Covid19 only goes to fuel the machinations of conservative think tanks and does nothing to further science. As a scientist, I would love to know how why and where this covid strain started. But understand that lab-leak or lab-escaped is just a stones throw away from lab-created and the last thing we need is science blamed for this virus. With conservatives in the US so hell bent on defunding anything science related, this would only be used to kill off research programs. We need these programs to be researching against these pathogens now, so that when something new pops up we have methods to create vaccines. If it hadn't been for decades of covid research there wouldn't have been a covid19 vaccine created in 9 months. It would have been years, possibly decades, with our only hope of containment some kind of collapse of the virus similar to the Spanish Flu of 1918.

101001001001 5y ago
Perhaps it’s important to discourage improper safety procedures in gain of function labs?
- asciimov 5y ago
  Sure, but it's important to recognize that science is dangerous and slip-ups do happen. That is why research has rigorous safety precautions and procedures.
akvadrako 5y ago
> the last thing we need is science blamed for this virus. I think this is the primary reason so many virologists are against the lab-leak idea. It's not because they think it's unlikely, but because if people were aware of how dangerous this research was the funding would dry up and it might even get banned.
- silicon2401 5y ago
  This lab leak caused a historical pandemic that's killed countless people and infected even more than that. That shows that whatever was being done safety-wise, it wasn't nearly enough. Research of covid-level danger shouldn't be suppressed (if anything, we need more of it to be prepared for the next pandemic), but it should absolutely be more stringently controlled. Millions of people now have to go through vaccinations, quarantines, testing, and more as a result of the leak. It would've been quite a return on investment to prevent all of that time and effort by requiring covid/coronavirus researchers to quarantine themselves from society or something in case of infections.
stevenhuang 5y ago
There is so much wrong here that it's hard to pick where to start. Just wow.

101001001001 5y ago

Perhaps it’s important to discourage improper safety procedures in gain of function labs?

asciimov 5y ago
Sure, but it's important to recognize that science is dangerous and slip-ups do happen. That is why research has rigorous safety precautions and procedures.

akvadrako 5y ago

> the last thing we need is science blamed for this virus. I think this is the primary reason so many virologists are against the lab-leak idea. It's not because they think it's unlikely, but because if people were aware of how dangerous this research was the funding would dry up and it might even get banned.

silicon2401 5y ago
This lab leak caused a historical pandemic that's killed countless people and infected even more than that. That shows that whatever was being done safety-wise, it wasn't nearly enough. Research of covid-level danger shouldn't be suppressed (if anything, we need more of it to be prepared for the next pandemic), but it should absolutely be more stringently controlled. Millions of people now have to go through vaccinations, quarantines, testing, and more as a result of the leak. It would've been quite a return on investment to prevent all of that time and effort by requiring covid/coronavirus researchers to quarantine themselves from society or something in case of infections.

stevenhuang 5y ago

There is so much wrong here that it's hard to pick where to start. Just wow.