National Review linked to an article on this, actually:
This is no longer really just a lab-leak theory; the evidence points to a lab-created theory, too.
www.nationalreview.com
The author of the study, Nicholas Wade, is a guy who’s written for Nature magazine and the New York Times, i.e. he’s not someone the Left can go is just a crank. The theory in his study (and one he links to in his by
another guy who was looking to debunk the lab theory and ended up convincing himself it was legit or at least quite possible) is that the Chinese researchers were using shitty bio safety protocols and this happened. As to
why the virus was created, well, virologists have been coming up with plans to try and combat new potential threats before they emerge, and have done such brilliant things as recreating the 1918 flu virus that ravaged the world, among other bright ideas. When questioned about the dangers, their response was basically “Relax, we’re experts, we totally know what we are doing.”
Also, one interesting suggestion on why Fauci or his boss waived the restrictions on funding Gain of Function research is that U.S. intelligence wanted insight into China’s bio weapons programs, and this would enable them to get a window into Chinese capabilities.
I don’t think this was a deliberate act in setting it off, especially if the first casualties were indeed researchers at the WIV in fall of 2019. Even the Chinese aren’t dumb enough to intentionally put their experts at risk for a field test. But they
are dumb enough to have a fuck up like this happen and refuse to tell anyone out of embarrassment.
Meanwhile, virologists around the world are panicking because their stunts of playing God have turned out to do little to combat a potential pandemic, but sure as hell managed to cause one. I would not be surprised if, when all is said and done, there’s a global ban on GOF research; it hasn’t done shit to help with COVID but it is
very likely that GOF is what caused this.