The authenticity of a widely cited paper on the origins of COVID-19 has been called into question after internal messages among its authors were released.
The paper, which was published in March 2020 in Nature Medicine, concluded that the virus did not originate from a laboratory. However, the newly released messages show that its authors privately raised doubts about the virus's origins from bats, contrary to their public conclusions.
The messages, leaked by Senator Rand Paul, reveal that the authors were less certain than their public statements suggested. Some even raised concerns that the virus may have originated in a lab, with one author assigning a 30% probability to this scenario.
The internal debates among the authors also touched on the furin cleavage site, a genetic feature at the heart of the lab-leak question. At one point, an author expressed his discomfort with emerging evidence and stated that he had "less confidence" in their public conclusions.
The authors coordinated with the U.S. intelligence community and National Institutes of Health (NIH) leadership as they publicly defended their conclusions. Their internal messages also reveal a contentious relationship with a prominent coronavirus researcher, Ralph Baric, whom they suspected of actively trying to undermine them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) scientific advisory group released a report last year concluding that the pandemic was caused by "zoonotic spillover," either directly from bats or through an intermediate host. However, the recent revelations have sparked renewed debate about the origins of the virus.
Senator Paul has released documents showing that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents were preparing to question British zoologist Peter Daszak upon his return to the United States from the World Health Organization's investigation into the origins of COVID-19. The FBI intervened and asked agents to stand down. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the U.S. response to the pandemic, is set to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the origins of the virus this month following a subpoena issued by Paul.
The recent developments have led to accusations of manipulating intelligence and lying to Congress to cover up alleged wrongdoing. The authenticity of the paper and the credibility of its authors are now under scrutiny.
