The article didn't downright dismiss it. In fact the author took pains to mention that conspiratorial thinking, of which it lists many non-fringe examples, slows down legitimate inquiry into the dangers of gain of function research.
If you care about whether or not the virus is zoonotic in origin that takes time. It still hasn't been done for ebola. In the meantime saying we think it's China let's investigate China specifically is looking for data in support of a hypothesis and not the other way around.
If you care about whether or not the virus is zoonotic in origin that takes time. It still hasn't been done for ebola. In the meantime saying we think it's China let's investigate China specifically is looking for data in support of a hypothesis and not the other way around.