This is the favorite hypothesis of followers of conspiracy theory and pseudo-scientists: the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus would have been created voluntarily in the laboratory and then released on the planet to (choose) eradicate the human species. , enrich pharmaceutical companies, block the progression of global warming …
In April 2020, Dr. Jacques Fiorentino, former emergency doctor (SAMU and SOS Médecins) and former instructor for the French Red Cross, explained to Top Santé that the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus had not been able to be made by humans: “Using experimental models, the researchers were able to reconstruct the path of the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus: although specialists are not yet 100% sure of its exact origins, the coronavirus has indeed passed from animals to animals. Man“.
As to whether he had escaped from a laboratory, the hypothesis remained “unlikely“according to the specialist:”the level of safety of a virology laboratory is even higher than that of a nuclear power plant!“.
Yes but here it is: a study conducted by 5 French researchers and published in the specialized journal Medicine / Sciences comes to sow doubt … Asked by our colleagues from Parisian, Dr. Étienne Decroly, virologist at the CNRS and co-author of this study, considers that “the hypothesis of a virus which would have accidentally left a laboratory is one among others, and it cannot unfortunately be ruled out to date“.
“Even if it was an accident, it would not be a conspiracy”
Because, if we know that the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus does indeed originate from a bat virus, we have still not identified the “intermediate host animal” which would have allowed transmission to humans – the pangolin having recently been cleared by the researchers.
So, how did the virus get from bats to humans? “In the hypothesis of a virus escaped from a laboratory, Sars-Cov-2 would descend from a bat virus isolated by scientists during sample collections, explains Dr. Decroly. It could have been cultivated in the laboratory on cells or animals in order to understand how this virus is able to cross the species barrier. (…) It would not be about building a biological weapon, but research aimed at better understanding how this virus works.“
A hypothesis not so far-fetched as it seems: thus, the Marburg virus (which caused a short epidemic in 1967 in Germany and Serbia) would have escaped from a laboratory where researchers were studying infected monkeys imported from Uganda. “Understanding the origins of the virus cannot be equated with conspiracy, underlines Dr. Decroly. Even if it turned out that an accident had happened, it would not be a conspiracy.“
Sources:
- The Parisian, Sunday November 8, 2020.
- Interview with Dr. Jacques Fiorentino, April 2020.
