And bear in mind, TWIV is also very tightly connected to two of the principles in this story - Beric and Dasak. I say this as a long time listener - but a lot of their basic statements have been incorrect. They still insist that Delta is not more contagious or virulent then alpha. They insisted that masks were not needed at the start of the outbreak, and clearly didn't think it would be a big deal.
But I think the story is starting to become clear. EcoHealth wanted to do gain of function research. DARPA shut them down. (Can you imagine the story if DARPA hadn't and it came out? US research scientists deliberately release virus in bats to infect all of china?).
EcoHealth also has a partnership w/ WIV in china, which was also doing this type of research (which is notably dual-use - so something the Chinese government might be very interested in doing).
I've been very skeptical on the idea of a human modified virus being at the heart of covid. I think it's still far more likely that this was a escape/mutation of a virus from the Wuhan CDC which is next-door to the wet market.
But this certainly raises the specter that we (as in humanity) may have just created the biggest pandemic in a effort to figure out how to avoid a pandemic.
From what I have read, there is a growing belief that the "bat video" was shot at the WCDC, not the BSL-4 lab, or alternatively, something less then BSL-4 at WIV.
Of course, this is another question that is unanswered.
But I think the story is starting to become clear. EcoHealth wanted to do gain of function research. DARPA shut them down. (Can you imagine the story if DARPA hadn't and it came out? US research scientists deliberately release virus in bats to infect all of china?).
EcoHealth also has a partnership w/ WIV in china, which was also doing this type of research (which is notably dual-use - so something the Chinese government might be very interested in doing).
I've been very skeptical on the idea of a human modified virus being at the heart of covid. I think it's still far more likely that this was a escape/mutation of a virus from the Wuhan CDC which is next-door to the wet market.
But this certainly raises the specter that we (as in humanity) may have just created the biggest pandemic in a effort to figure out how to avoid a pandemic.