Early in the Covid panic, we were told that the Covid naturally evolved to pass from animals to humans. That was the only allowed theory. We will call it Theory One.

Now there is a Theory Two. That is “Gain-of-Function” research in a bio-lab led to an either accidental or deliberate release of Covid, leading to the world pandemic.

Are there other theories? YES, there are!

Michael Neil and Jonathan Engler have written a fascinating review on the “Where are the numbers?” Substack on four different theories on Covid Origins. Their article title is: “Virus Origins and Gain (Claim) of Function research.”

They discuss the first two theories in detail, and add two more.

Theory Three is that SARS-CoV-2 was pre-existing well before 2019.

Theory Four is that clones of SARS-CoV-2 were distributed worldwide.

Theory Five is the no virus theory, which has several different flavors.

Their comments on Theory One:

• “…the complexity of the relationship between genotype and phenotype is too great and poorly understood to make the deliberate act of engineering the pathogenicity of viruses ever reliably achievable….
• “A review of so-called Gain-of-Function and Loss-of-Function experiments does not suggest that much practical and / or relevant progress has been made in overcoming this insurmountable barrier….
• “We therefore suggest that it would be more apt to refer to ‘Claim-of-Function’ than ‘Gain-of-Function’ research.” (So much for Theory One.)

On Theory Two:

• “The virus which has become known as SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t appear to be that novel when looked at from several angles.
• “Claims that something novel emerged in 2019 – whether or not through Gain-of-Function experimentation appear to be without foundation.” (Theories One and Two are suspect.)

On Theory Three:

• “…it appears to be just another coronavirus, of which at least eight other similar such viruses have been detected since the 1980s.
• “Furthermore, the lethality of the latest addition to the collection looks as if it is following a similar course to the others – overestimated soon after discovery only to be downgraded later…” (Theory Three is possible.)

On Theory Four:

• “…it appears that the engineering of clones carrying genetic material is and has been standard practice around the world for some time.
• “Given the above, the creation and distribution of such clones might appear to be a much more likely explanation for the rapid spread of a particular sequence around the world than the natural spread of a novel pathogen from a class of viruses known to be highly mutable.” (Theory Four is possible. It also explains Ron Unz’s observation that Covid infections appeared to break out in Wuhan, Italy, and Iran at the same time.)

Theory Five was not described in this article, but discussed in the comments. One of the authors agreed that it was a valid theory, requiring a longer article to properly discuss.

They conclude:

“Finally, none of the above is meant to excuse shortcomings in the discipline of virology (which seems to have lost its way over the past decades), nor express approval for Gain-of-Function research. Much research in the area looks to be neither ethical nor useful, and whilst we disagree that scientists can make viruses with pandemic potential, it is possible, or in fact even likely, that such experimentation may pose dangers locally (but not globally).

“Moreover, as we have seen, the constant hunting for viral sequences and frenzied analysis of those thought to be novel help lay the foundations for a constantly fearful humanity, empowering those who wish to impose ‘pandemic preparedness’ on the world, with its paraphernalia of control mechanisms and attendant loss of freedoms.

“In this article, we are not intending to defend those who may have conducted such research, but nor do we think it is right to solely blame such research when the evidence for a spreading pathogen having caused a pandemic of a novel disease is so weak.

It is perfectly possible to simultaneously believe (as we state above) that such research is unethical and that it did not (directly at least) cause the ‘covid pandemic’, which was an iatrogenic phenomenon. In this regard if there actually was a function gained by the virus it was the power to help trick humanity into a dramatic act of self-harm.”

https://wherearethenumbers.substack.com/p/virus-origins-and-gain-claim-of-function