Viral is leaf non-fiction book within virology and the COVID-19 pandemic that argues for a lab leak origin. This book was written in 2022 and as of 2024 this topic continues to evolve. One of the co-authors (Alice Chan) wrote an opinion essay in the New York Times in June of 2024. That article re-states much of the content and arguments of this book.
Note
At the top, this book is controversial. Matt Ridley has a checkered past for miss-managing a bank and bizarre climate change views. More generally, this book is controversial because the notion of a lab leak origin for SARSâCoVâ2 is controversial. The theory often devolves into conspiracy theory or a pretext for anti-China animus.
- Relies on questionable sources (twitter user group)
- Dr. Shi
- Peter Daszak president of the EcoHealth alliance
Coronavirus SARS-CoV-1 Outbreak (2002-2004) MòjiÄng viral outbreak SARSâCoVâ2 Furin
- Author Alina Chin published a paper that showed that the virus is relatively stable in humans (well adapted to humans already vs. SARS which evolved)
- Pangolin papers (multipel groups republishing on the same sample set
with different names)
- Lightens the idea that they were an intermediary species for bats
- S1-S2 Boundary
- CGG found more commonly in human than virus
RaTG13 - 96.2 match to Wuhan SARS-COV-2, with the smaller sequence of it BtCoV/4991 98.7 match to Wuhan outbreak. In 2022, viruses discovered in Laos in bats were found to have a higher NT match that RaTG13: BANAL-52 (96.8%)