Courtesy-News18
Just weeks before the first known cases of COVID-19 emerged in central China, Danielle Anderson was working in the world’s most notorious laboratory, yet the Australian virologist still wonders what she missed.
The research was undertaken at the Wuhan Institute of biologists BSL 4 lab which is mainland China’s first lab to be equipped to handle the planet’s deadliest pathogens by the only foreign scientist, Anderson, who is an expert in bat-borne viruses. By giving an insider’s perspective towards a place that’s become a flashpoint in the search for what caused the worst pandemic in a century, Anderson’s most recent stint ended in November 2019.
Possibly through an infected staffer or a contaminated object, speculations have been stoked by the exact family of viruses, that coronavirus might have leaked from the lab, according to a study by the scientists. Suspicions that have been seized on by the United States are fueled by China’s lack of transparency since the earliest days of the outbreak.
Shi Zhengli is a long time colleague of Anderson’s dubbed bat-woman for her work hunting viruses in the caves while the labs work along with the above-mentioned director of its emerging Infectious diseases section (Zhengli) is now shrouded in controversy. Alleging its scientists were engaged in a continuous gain of function research which in turn manipulated viruses in a manner that could have made them more dangerous, the United States has questioned the Wuhan lab’s safety.