Notes to Lab Leak Fever

Scientific publications informing scientific facts, statements, and explanations of the writer are cited by the first author and listed alphabetically in the bibliography. Quotes spoken directly to me stem from recorded interviews as well as published podcasts with domain experts. The chapter footnotes cover quotations and reporting from news articles and public materials, including social media posts, and may include further interpretations, clarifications, and descriptions. 

A big shout-out also goes to David Quammen´s book “Breathless”, whose meticulous documentation often served as a point of reference, and Renée Diresta`s book “Invisible Rulers”, which provided some necessary underpinning to my understanding of what happened online.

While I did go to great lengths to avoid misrepresentations —  such as having hours of expert interviews and fact-checking reviews by domain experts —  I cannot always control how my words will be interpreted. Science communication by necessity works with complexity reduction and utilizing useful, but incomplete, analogies. If there are uncertainties about scientific facts that arise from my simplifications, omissions of brevity, or flawed comparisons, I advise you to first consult the primary literature for clarification rather than presume there is an obvious mistake in the science or reasoning of scientists.

Scientific publications

Alwine, J. C., A. Casadevall, L. W. Enquist, F. D. Goodrum and M. J. Imperiale (2023). "A Critical Analysis of the Evidence for the SARS-CoV-2 Origin Hypotheses." mSphere 8(2): e0011923.

Alwine, J., Goodrum, F., Banfield, B., Bloom, D., Britt William, J., Broadbent Andrew, J., Campos Samuel, K., Casadevall, A., Chan Gary, C., Cliffe Anna, R., Dermody, T., Duprex, P., Enquist Lynn, W., Frueh, K., Geballe Adam, P., Gaglia, M., Goldstein, S., Greninger Alexander, L., Gronvall Gigi, K., . . . Yurochko, A. (2024). The harms of promoting the lab leak hypothesis for SARS-CoV-2 origins without evidence. Journal of Virology, 98(9), e01240-01224.

Andersen, K. G., A. Rambaut, W. I. Lipkin, E. C. Holmes and R. F. Garry (2020). "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2." Nature Medicine 26(4): 450-452.

Anthony, S. J., C. K. Johnson, D. J. Greig, S. Kramer, X. Che, H. Wells, A. L. Hicks, D. O. Joly, N. D. Wolfe, P. Daszak, W. Karesh, W. I. Lipkin, S. S. Morse, J. A. K. Mazet and T. Goldstein (2017). "Global patterns in coronavirus diversity." Virus Evol 3(1): vex012.

Binnendyk, J. and G. Pennycook (2022). "Intuition, reason, and conspiracy beliefs." Current Opinion in Psychology 47: 101387.

Bloom, J. D., Chan, Y. A., Baric, R. S., Bjorkman, P. J., Cobey, S., Deverman, B. E., Fisman, D. N., Gupta, R., Iwasaki, A., Lipsitch, M., Medzhitov, R., Neher, R. A., Nielsen, R., Patterson, N., Stearns, T., van Nimwegen, E., Worobey, M., & Relman, D. A. (2021). Investigate the origins of COVID-19. Science, 372(6543), 694-694.

Boni, M. F., P. Lemey, X. Jiang, T. T.-Y. Lam, B. W. Perry, T. A. Castoe, A. Rambaut and D. L. Robertson (2020). "Evolutionary origins of the SARS-CoV-2 sarbecovirus lineage responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic." Nature Microbiology 5(11): 1408-1417.

Calisher, C., Carroll, D., Colwell, R., Corley, R. B., Daszak, P., Drosten, C., Enjuanes, L., Farrar, J., Field, H., Golding, J., Gorbalenya, A., Haagmans, B., Hughes, J. M., Karesh, W. B., Keusch, G. T., Lam, S. K., Lubroth, J., Mackenzie, J. S., Madoff, L., . . . Turner, M. (2020). Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19. The Lancet, 395(10226), e42-e43.

Carlson, C. J., C. M. Zipfel, R. Garnier and S. Bansal (2019). "Global estimates of mammalian viral diversity accounting for host sharing." Nature Ecology & Evolution 3(7): 1070-1075.

Chaudhry, M. Z., K. Eschke, M. Hoffmann, M. Grashoff, L. Abassi, Y. Kim, L. Brunotte, S. Ludwig, A. Kröger, F. Klawonn, H. Pöhlmann Stefan and L. Cicin-Sain (2022). "Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Adaptation to Available Cellular Proteases." Journal of Virology 96(5): e02186-02121.

Cichocka, A., M. Marchlewska and M. Biddlestone (2022). "Why do narcissists find conspiracy theories so appealing?" Current Opinion in Psychology 47: 101386.

Cichocka, A., M. Marchlewska and A. Golec de Zavala (2016). "Does self-love or self-hate predict conspiracy beliefs? Narcissism, self-esteem, and the endorsement of conspiracy theories." Social Psychological and Personality Science 7(2): 157-166.

Crits-Christoph, A., J. I. Levy, J. E. Pekar, S. A. Goldstein, R. Singh, Z. Hensel, K. Gangavarapu, M. B. Rogers, N. Moshiri, R. F. Garry, E. C. Holmes, M. P. G. Koopmans, P. 

Cui, J., F. Li and Z.-L. Shi (2019). "Origin and evolution of pathogenic coronaviruses." Nature Reviews Microbiology 17(3): 181-192.

Daszak, P., R. K. Plowright, J. H. Epstein, J. Pulliam, S. Abdul Rahman, H. E. Field, A. Jamaluddin, S. H. Sharifah, C. S. Smith, K. J. Olival, S. Luby, K. Halpin, A. D. Hyatt and A. A. Cunningham (2006). 186The emergence of Nipah and Hendra virus: pathogen dynamics across a wildlife-livestock-human continuum. Disease Ecology: Community structure and pathogen dynamics, Oxford University Press: 0.

Débarre, F., & Hensel, Z. (2024). A critical reexamination of recovered SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data. bioRxiv, 2024.2002.2015.580500.

de Klerk, A., P. Swanepoel, R. Lourens, M. Zondo, I. Abodunran, S. Lytras, O. A. MacLean, D. Robertson, S. L. Kosakovsky Pond, J. D. Zehr, V. Kumar, M. J. Stanhope, G. Harkins, B. Murrell and D. P. Martin (2022). "Conserved recombination patterns across coronavirus subgenera." Virus Evol 8(2): veac054.

Delaune, D., V. Hul, E. A. Karlsson, A. Hassanin, T. P. Ou, A. Baidaliuk, F. Gámbaro, M. Prot, V. T. Tu, S. Chea, L. Keatts, J. Mazet, C. K. Johnson, P. Buchy, P. Dussart, T. Goldstein, E. Simon-Lorière and V. Duong (2021). "A novel SARS-CoV-2 related coronavirus in bats from Cambodia." Nat Commun 12(1): 6563.

Douglas, K. M. and R. M. Sutton (2023). "What Are Conspiracy Theories? A Definitional Approach to Their Correlates, Consequences, and Communication." Annual Review of Psychology 74(Volume 74, 2023): 271-298.

Douglas, K. M., R. M. Sutton, M. J. Callan, R. J. Dawtry and A. J. Harvey (2016). "Someone is pulling the strings: hypersensitive agency detection and belief in conspiracy theories." Thinking & Reasoning 22(1): 57-77.

Douglas, K. M., R. M. Sutton and A. Cichocka (2017). "The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories." Curr Dir Psychol Sci 26(6): 538-542.

Epstein, J. H., H. E. Field, S. Luby, J. R. Pulliam and P. Daszak (2006). "Nipah virus: impact, origins, and causes of emergence." Curr Infect Dis Rep 8(1): 59-65.

Evans, T. S., C. W. Tan, O. Aung, S. Phyu, H. Lin, L. L. Coffey, A. T. Toe, P. Aung, T. H. Aung, N. T. Aung, C. M. Weiss, K. Z. Thant, Z. T. Htun, S. Murray, L. Wang, C. K. Johnson and H. M. Thu (2023). "Exposure to diverse sarbecoviruses indicates frequent zoonotic spillover in human communities interacting with wildlife." Int J Infect Dis 131: 57-64.

Follis, K. E., J. York and J. H. Nunberg (2006). "Furin cleavage of the SARS coronavirus spike glycoprotein enhances cell–cell fusion but does not affect virion entry." Virology 350(2): 358-369.

Forero-Muñoz, N. R., R. L. Muylaert, S. N. Seifert, G. F. Albery, D. J. Becker, C. J. Carlson and T. Poisot (2024). "The coevolutionary mosaic of bat betacoronavirus emergence risk." Virus Evolution 10(1): vead079.

Fraser, B. J., S. Beldar, A. Seitova, A. Hutchinson, D. Mannar, Y. Li, D. Kwon, R. Tan, R. P. Wilson, K. Leopold, S. Subramaniam, L. Halabelian, C. H. Arrowsmith and F. Bénard (2022). "Structure and activity of human TMPRSS2 protease implicated in SARS-CoV-2 activation." Nature Chemical Biology 18(9): 963-971.

Gallaher, W. R. (2020). "A palindromic RNA sequence as a common breakpoint contributor to copy-choice recombination in SARS-COV-2." Archives of Virology 165(10): 2341-2348.

Garry, R. F. (2022). "SARS-CoV-2 furin cleavage site was not engineered." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 119(40): e2211107119.

Ge, X. Y., J. L. Li, X. L. Yang, A. A. Chmura, G. Zhu, J. H. Epstein, J. K. Mazet, B. Hu, W. Zhang, C. Peng, Y. J. Zhang, C. M. Luo, B. Tan, N. Wang, Y. Zhu, G. Crameri, S. Y. Zhang, L. F. Wang, P. Daszak and Z. L. Shi (2013). "Isolation and characterization of a bat SARS-like coronavirus that uses the ACE2 receptor." Nature 503(7477): 535-538.

Goh, K. J., C. T. Tan, N. K. Chew, P. S. Tan, A. Kamarulzaman, S. A. Sarji, K. T. Wong, B. J. Abdullah, K. B. Chua and S. K. Lam (2000). "Clinical features of Nipah virus encephalitis among pig farmers in Malaysia." N Engl J Med 342(17): 1229-1235.

Green, R., D. Toribio-Flórez, K. M. Douglas, J. W. Brunkow and R. M. Sutton (2023). "Making an impression: The effects of sharing conspiracy theories." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 104: 104398.

Guan, Y., B. J. Zheng, Y. Q. He, X. L. Liu, Z. X. Zhuang, C. L. Cheung, S. W. Luo, P. H. Li, L. J. Zhang, Y. J. Guan, K. M. Butt, K. L. Wong, K. W. Chan, W. Lim, K. F. Shortridge, K. Y. Yuen, J. S. Peiris and L. L. Poon (2003). "Isolation and characterization of viruses related to the SARS coronavirus from animals in southern China." Science 302(5643): 276-278.

Hahl, O., M. Kim and E. W. Zuckerman Sivan (2018). "The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue: Proclaiming the Deeper Truth about Political Illegitimacy." American Sociological Review 83(1): 1-33.

Han, Y., Z. Wang, Z. Wei, I. Schapiro and J. Li (2021). "Binding affinity and mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 variants." Comput Struct Biotechnol J 19: 4184-4191.

Han, Y., P. Xu, Y. Wang, W. Zhao, J. Zhang, S. Zhang, J. Wang, Q. Jin and Z. Wu (2023). "Panoramic analysis of coronaviruses carried by representative bat species in Southern China to better understand the coronavirus sphere." Nature Communications 14(1): 5537.

He, W.-T., X. Hou, J. Zhao, J. Sun, H. He, W. Si, J. Wang, Z. Jiang, Z. Yan, G. Xing, M. Lu, M. A. Suchard, X. Ji, W. Gong, B. He, J. Li, P. Lemey, D. Guo, C. Tu, E. C. Holmes, M. Shi and S. Su (2022). "Virome characterization of game animals in China reveals a spectrum of emerging pathogens." Cell 185(7): 1117-1129.e1118.

Holmes, E. C. (2024). "The Emergence and Evolution of SARS-CoV-2." Annu Rev Virol.

Holmes, E. C., S. A. Goldstein, A. L. Rasmussen, D. L. Robertson, A. Crits-Christoph, J. O. Wertheim, S. J. Anthony, W. S. Barclay, M. F. Boni, P. C. Doherty, J. Farrar, J. L. Geoghegan, X. Jiang, J. L. Leibowitz, S. J. D. Neil, T. Skern, S. R. Weiss, M. Worobey, K. G. Andersen, R. F. Garry and A. Rambaut (2021). "The origins of SARS-CoV-2: A critical review." Cell 184(19): 4848-4856.

Hon, C. C., T. Y. Lam, Z. L. Shi, A. J. Drummond, C. W. Yip, F. Zeng, P. Y. Lam and F. C. Leung (2008). "Evidence of the recombinant origin of a bat severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like coronavirus and its implications on the direct ancestor of SARS coronavirus." J Virol 82(4): 1819-1826.

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Hu, B., L. P. Zeng, X. L. Yang, X. Y. Ge, W. Zhang, B. Li, J. Z. Xie, X. R. Shen, Y. Z. Zhang, N. Wang, D. S. Luo, X. S. Zheng, M. N. Wang, P. Daszak, L. F. Wang, J. Cui and Z. L. Shi (2017). "Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus." PLoS Pathog 13(11): e1006698.

Hu, D., Zhu, C., Ai, L., He, T., Wang, Y., Ye, F., Yang, L., Ding, C., Zhu, X., Lv, R., Zhu, J., Hassan, B., Feng, Y., Tan, W., & Wang, C. (2018). Genomic characterization and infectivity of a novel SARS-like coronavirus in Chinese bats. Emerg Microbes Infect, 7(1), 154. 

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Irving, A. T., M. Ahn, G. Goh, D. E. Anderson and L.-F. Wang (2021). "Lessons from the host defences of bats, a unique viral reservoir." Nature 589(7842): 363-370.

Jackson, C. B., M. Farzan, B. Chen and H. Choe (2022). "Mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells." Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 23(1): 3-20.

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Johnson, B. A., X. Xie, A. L. Bailey, B. Kalveram, K. G. Lokugamage, A. Muruato, J. Zou, X. Zhang, T. Juelich, J. K. Smith, L. Zhang, N. Bopp, C. Schindewolf, M. Vu, A. Vanderheiden, E. S. Winkler, D. Swetnam, J. A. Plante, P. Aguilar, K. S. Plante, V. Popov, B. Lee, S. C. Weaver, M. S. Suthar, A. L. Routh, P. Ren, Z. Ku, Z. An, K. Debbink, M. S. Diamond, P. Y. Shi, A. N. Freiberg and V. D. Menachery (2021). "Loss of furin cleavage site attenuates SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis." Nature 591(7849): 293-299.

Keusch, G. T., J. H. Amuasi, D. E. Anderson, P. Daszak, I. Eckerle, H. Field, M. Koopmans, S. K. Lam, C. G. Das Neves, M. Peiris, S. Perlman, S. Wacharapluesadee, S. Yadana and L. Saif (2022). "Pandemic origins and a One Health approach to preparedness and prevention: Solutions based on SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(42): e2202871119.

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Books

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DiResta, R. (2024). Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality. PublicAffairs. https://books.google.ch/books?id=TZHaEAAAQBAJ (illuminating, inspiring and essential