The novel coronavirus that was first detected in Wuhan, China is continuing its deadly killing spree in all nooks of the globe, and the United States is one of the worst affected countries that is facing fatalities due to the pandemic outbreak. Ever since the outbreak, several conspiracy theorists had suggested that COVID-19 could be a genetically modified pathogen created by China to destabilize the economy of other countries.
Coronavirus is not manmade
As per the latest reports, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has apparently confirmed that coronavirus is not manmade nor it is genetically engineered. However, the intelligence department is trying to figure out whether the pandemic outbreak is the result of an accident that happened in the National Bio-safety Laboratory in Wuhan.
The federal agency is also trying to unveil whether coronavirus outbreak happened through contact with infected animals. Earlier, several studies had suggested that coronavirus might have reached the human body through pangolins that consumed infected bats.
Per @ODNIgov Intelligence Community agrees COVID-19 was not man-made or genetically modified but "rigorously" examining whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or was the result of an accident at Wuhan lab
— Aaron Katersky (@AaronKatersky) April 30, 2020
Nature Journal's 2017 article hold the clue?
Interestingly, a report published in the Nature journal in 2017 had revealed that scientists at the National Bio-safety Laboratory in Wuhan are conducting experiments with the world's deadly pathogens. The news report also published images of safety suits that are being used in this laboratory. Interestingly, these safety suits seem too weird, and it literally resembled those full-body protective suits often depicted in Hollywood science fiction movies.
Soon after the publication of this news report in 2017, several top experts had predicted the possibility of a virus leak from this laboratory. However, China claimed that experiments conducted in this laboratory could help the country to fight against the most deadly pathogens on earth.
Conspiracy theorists, citing this article from Nature Journal, soon started claiming that the COVID-19 outbreak will not happen without the knowledge of China. As rumors surrounding this outbreak grabbed headlines, journal Nature revealed that they do not have any direct evidence to prove the outbreak of coronavirus due to an accident that happened in the Wuhan laboratory.
"Many stories have promoted an unverified theory that the Wuhan lab discussed in this article played a role in the coronavirus outbreak that began in December 2019. Nature knows of no evidence that this is true; scientists believe the most likely source of the coronavirus to be an animal market," wrote the editor in Journal Nature.
Coronavirus did not originate from Wuhan seafood market
A few weeks back, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge had suggested that coronavirus did not originate in the Wuhan seafood market, as previously speculated. As per this study report, COVID-19 had its origin in northern China, and not in Wuhan. The study report also made it clear that the actual coronavirus outbreak could have begun as early as September 2019.
