An appeal for an objective, open, and transparent scientific debate about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 – Authors' reply
Authors: Gerald T Keusch, Sai Kit Lam, John S Mackenzie, Linda Saif, Michael Turner
Journal: The Lancet (2021)

We write on behalf of our coauthors1Calisher CH Carroll D Colwell R et al.Science, not speculation, is essential to determine how SARS-CoV-2 reached humans.Lancet. 2021; 398: 209-211Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar to agree with Jacques van Helden and colleagues that scientists "need to evaluate all hypotheses on a rational basis, and to weigh their likelihood based on facts and evidence, devoid of speculation concerning possible political impacts". Scientific knowledge is essential to effectively guide future efforts to reduce the chance of another pandemic,1Calisher CH Carroll D Colwell R et al.Science, not speculation, is essential to determine how SARS-CoV-2 reached humans.Lancet. 2021; 398: 209-211Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar, 2WHOWHO Statement on advancing the next series of studies to find the origins of SARS-CoV-2.https://www.who.int/news/item/12-08-2021-who-statement-on-advancing-the-next-series-of-studies-to-find-the-origins-of-sars-cov-2Date: Aug 12, 2021Date accessed: September 5, 2021Google Scholar including by mitigating or blocking all relevant pathways for a pathogen to host-shift from natural hosts to humans. Endless arguments back and forth about the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, pitting evolution and spillover in nature against a laboratory leak do little to advance our critical knowledge base. We need more scientific evidence that unravels the likely pathway for the virus because real evidence that confirms or refutes hypotheses is far more important than the hypotheses and conjectures themselves. Expert reviews and new data continue to emerge tracing the evolutionary pathway of SARS-CoV-2 in nature over decades, serving to place some controversial genomic characteristics within a broader evolutionary context.3Zhou H Jingkai J Chen X et al.Identification of novel bat coronaviruses sheds light on the evolutionary origins of SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses.Cell. 2021; 184: 4380-4391Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (206) Google Scholar, 4MacLean OA Lytras S Weaver S et al.Natural selection in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in bats created a generalist virus and highly capable human pathogen.PLoS Biol. 2021; 19e3001115Crossref Scopus (107) Google Scholar, 5Holmes EC Goldstein SA Stephen A et al.The origins of SARS-CoV-2: a critical review.Cell. 2021; (published online Aug 18.)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.08.017Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (272) Google Scholar However, while we need more evidence, the world will remain mired in dispute without full engagement of China, including open access to primary data, documents, and relevant stored material to enable a thorough, transparent, and objective search for all relevant evidence. As we have already seen6Dou E Rauhala E China sets back search for covid origins with rejection of WHO investigation proposal.Washington Post. July 22, 2021; https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/22/china-covid-who-wuhan/Date accessed: September 7, 2021Google Scholar this engagement is impossible in an environment of implicit or explicit blame placed on the Wuhan Institute of Virology and its scientists. We stand by our statement that "recrimination has not, and will not, encourage international cooperation and collaboration".1Calisher CH Carroll D Colwell R et al.Science, not speculation, is essential to determine how SARS-CoV-2 reached humans.Lancet. 2021; 398: 209-211Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar JSM is a member of the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee for COVID-19, a member of the One Health High Level Expert Panel that advises the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the World Organisation for Animal Health, the United Nations Environment Programme, and WHO, and a past member of the scientific advisory committee for the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (2008–11). JSM has past or ongoing academic and scientific collaborations on coronavirus biology with colleagues in China and several other countries. GTK, SKL, and LS are members of the Lancet Task Force on the Origins and Early Spread of COVID-19 & One Health Solutions to Future Pandemic Threats. MT declares no competing interests. An appeal for an objective, open, and transparent scientific debate about the origin of SARS-CoV-2On July 5, 2021, a Correspondence was published in The Lancet called "Science, not speculation, is essential to determine how SARS-CoV-2 reached humans".1 The letter recapitulates the arguments of an earlier letter (published in February, 2020) by the same authors,2 which claimed overwhelming support for the hypothesis that the novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic originated in wildlife. The authors associated any alternative view with conspiracy theories by stating: "We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin". Full-Text PDF Science, not speculation, is essential to determine how SARS-CoV-2 reached humansOn Feb 19, 2020, we, a group of physicians, veterinarians, epidemiologists, virologists, biologists, ecologists, and public health experts from around the world, joined together to express solidarity with our professional colleagues in China.1 Unsubstantiated allegations were being raised about the source of the COVID-19 outbreak and the integrity of our peers who were diligently working to learn more about the newly recognised virus, SARS-CoV-2, while struggling to care for the many patients admitted to hospital with severe illness in Wuhan and elsewhere in China. Full-Text PDF