"On Jan. 31, 2020, shortly after the SARS-CoV-2 genome had been decoded, Kristian Andersen, five virologists' leader, emailed Dr. Fauci that there were "unusual features" in the virus. These took up only a small percentage of the genome, so that "one has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered."
Mr. Andersen went on to note that he and his team "all find the genome inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory." It isn't clear exactly what he meant by this striking phrase. But anything inconsistent with an evolutionary origin has to be man-made.
This remarkable email establishes that the Andersen team's initial reaction was to suspect that SARS-CoV-2 had been engineered in a lab. Their subsequent letter doesn't adequately explain how they overcame this impression.
The furin cleavage site, a small element of the virus that they doubtless had in mind when referring to "unusual features," is an anomalous genetic insertion that could be a sign of laboratory manipulation. The distinguished virologist David Baltimore has called it a smoking gun and "a powerful challenge to the idea of a natural origin for SARS2."
The Andersen team in its letter discusses how the virus could have acquired the furin cleavage site naturally. Their best suggestion is that SARS-CoV-2 picked up the necessary genetic information from people after it had made its jump from bats. But no evidence for this idea has emerged. And it's hard to see why the Andersen team decided that this conjecture should outweigh the appearance of laboratory manipulation.
As virologists, all had a professional interest in not provoking a storm of public condemnation over gain-of-function experiments, the bland name for genetically enhancing the pathogenic power of viruses. After taking one look at the horrific possibility that a lab leak origin for SARS-CoV-2 might cause virology labs all over the world to be closed down, it would seem, the Andersen team decided to disregard their first impressions of possible manipulation. Recall what they said in their letter: "We do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible."
Dr. Fauci has long suggested that the virus emerged naturally -- until the past few weeks, when he started to allow that lab escape is possible and should be investigated. The Jan. 31, 2020, email from Mr. Andersen shows that Dr. Fauci knew from the beginning that experts had serious suspicions about the virus's origins. There were many other matters on his agenda at the time, but it's too bad he didn't ask for an independent panel, one not dominated by virologists, to look into the possibility that Chinese researchers genetically manipulating coronaviruses in low-level safety conditions had sparked a global pandemic." [1]
1. Fauci Email Bolsters the Lab-Leak Theory
Wade, Nicholas. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]05 June 2021: A.13.
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