by Kyle Becker at Becker News
In February 2020, the prominent medical journal The Lancet published a letter signed by several scientists condemning “conspiracy theories” that the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus did not have a “natural origin.” The letter would be held up by media publications around the world as an authoritative statement closing off discussion and investigation of a potential virus leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The combative wording of the letter, published early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, should have been a red flag for media publications that there may be conflicts of interest at play. A portion of the letter is provided below:
We sign this statement in solidarity with all scientists and health professionals in China who continue to save lives and protect global health during the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are all in this together, with our Chinese counterparts in the forefront, against this new viral threat.
The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation around its origins. We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife, as have so many other emerging pathogens.
The problem for publications that brandished the Lancet letter as “settled science” against all who sought more answers about the coronavirus’s origins is that the science was not settled, as a number of scientists who signed the letter have come to acknowledge.
An investigation by Alexandros Marinos tracked the signatories’ positions on the SARS-CoV-2 virus origins after the Lancet letter’s publication in February 2020.
The Lancet letter of Feb 18, 2020, sent a message to scientists the world over: Investigate a lab leak, and you will be tarred as conspiracy theorist. Was it a honest outpouring of support? Or astroturfing? To start, of the 27 signatories, 7 were affiliated with EcoHealth… 🧵 pic.twitter.com/XTyTB3CeyD
— Alexandros Marinos (@alexandrosM) June 7, 2021
It should be no surprise that several of the scientists have since changed their position, the report shows. Furthermore, several of the signatories are connected to EcoHealth, the controversial scientific group that funneled millions in U.S. taxpayer money to the Wuhan laboratory.
“The Lancet letter of Feb 18, 2020, sent a message to scientists the world over: Investigate a lab leak, and you will be tarred as conspiracy theorist,” Marinos wrote. “Was it a honest outpouring of support? Or astroturfing?”
“To start, of the 27 signatories, 7 were affiliated with EcoHealth Alliance: Peter Daszak (President), Rita Colwell & James Hughes (BoD members), William Karesh (EVP for Health and Policy), Hume Field, Juan Lubroth, John MacKenzie (Science and Policy Advisors),” he points out.
“The fact that a quarter of the signatories were affiliated with EHA was hidden,” he noted.
Indeed, several of the names listed by Marinos are linked to blank profiles on the EcoHealth Alliance website, one of them scrubbed and leading to a 404 page (MacKenzie). William Karesh is found in an announcement that he was appointed to the Council of Foreign Relations.
Marinos continued by noting: “3 signatories worked directly for the Wellcome Trust: Sir Jeremy Farrar (Director, also instrumental in the Feb 1 meeting between Kristian Andersen, Eddie Holmes, Anthony Fauci, and others), Josie Golding (Epidemics Lead), Mike Turner (Director of Science). In addition Larry Madoff is the editor of ProMED, which receives “ongoing operational support” from Wellcome, Gerald Keusch reports having served in multiple committees for the Wellcome Trust. Leo Poon is in a leadership position in Hong Kong University, and given the situation on the ground, we wouldn’t expect him to be able to share any thoughts. Finally, Dennis Carroll and Jonna Mazet are in Leadership of the Global Virome Project, alongside Peter Daszak.”
“So far we’ve shown how 15 of the 27 signatories had major conflicts, considering how involved EcoHealth was with funding WIV, as was the Wellcome Trust,” Marinos notes. “To dare write ‘We declare no competing interests’ in the letter, was a mockery of science and taxpayers everywhere.”
“Of the remaining 12, 4 are close collaborators of Ralph Baric, and have stayed relatively quiet, especially since he signed on to a statement asking for an independent investigation: Linda Saif, Luis Enjuanes, Alexander Gorbalenya (Sasha), Bart Haagmans. As a reminder, Ralph Baric, one of the fathers of Gain-of-Function methods, was intending to sign, but was asked by Peter Daszak to refrain, as apparently did Linfa Wang, to prevent attention to their collaboration and ‘maximize an independent voice.’”
Marinos then produces a quite stunning email that lays out the connection between EcoHealth Alliance and the letter signatories.
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