SA and Dr Edd,
SA: I agree that the debate on the “vaccine contaminants and safety” thread seems mostly unproductive, but I regard that debate as being more about conspiracy theory itself rather than the merit or otherwise of any specific proposition advanced on the thread.
SA and Dr Edd: but the debate about the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 seems to be ongoing in the scientific community and the scientific literature, and I don’t understand why you dismiss one side of it, in a public forum. Dr Edd, your May 28, 20:02 argument seems convincing, but there are elements of it which, as a non-specialist, I would have to take on trust.
There are both scientific and political consequences associated with this debate. As I understand it, there are both political bodies and scientific institutions seeking to investigate SARS-CoV-2’s origin in China, but the Chinese government is preventing this. Surely such opacity is in opposition to the spirit and objectives of science? Yet your dismissal of possible lab origin would argue for such investigation being unnecessary. This could appear partisan, and I request clarification of your objectives.
There are serious concerns with such laboratories wherever they are located, and I have no doubt that, say, the US government would be opposing Chinese investigation in the US had the pandemic originated near a US biolab. That wouldn’t be right either.