Opinion Today: The evidence that the coronavirus escaped from a lab

And why it matters going forward.

View in browser|nytimes.com June 3, 2024 By Jeremy Ashkenas Graphics Director, Opinion The Covid-19 pandemic was the defining catastrophe of our lifetimes. It left no corner of the world untouched, upended politics, killed tens of millions and pushed tens of millions more into extreme poverty. As much as we'd all like to move on from the pandemic years, we can't fully turn the page until we have an answer to a question that has loomed uncomfortably since the first news of a mysterious viral outbreak in Wuhan, China: What was the cause of the pandemic? For the past four years, Alina Chan, a molecular biologist, has been a brave and independent voice, willing to say in public what many scientists only whisper behind closed doors: As the evidence continues to mount, she argues in a guest essay for Times Opinion, it looks increasingly likely that the pandemic was caused by a laboratory accident — one that was at least partly enabled by U.S. government funding and research collaboration. Later today, Anthony Fauci will briefly step back into the spotlight from the quiet of his retirement to testify before the House subcommittee tasked with investigating the origins of Covid-19. If members of Congress can refrain from descending into the partisanship that has muddied this issue for too long, it will provide a golden opportunity to ask him questions about the risky virus research he championed as the leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In her essay, Chan uses graphics and maps to clearly lay out, in five important points, the key evidence that shows why the coronavirus probably escaped from a lab. If you haven't been keeping up with all the latest Covid-19 document releases under the Freedom of Information Act, government leaks and email dumps, what she has to say might surprise you. Read the guest essay: Illustration by Mike McQuade. Source photographs by Getty Images. 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