REVEALED: 26 out of the 27 Lancet scientists who trashed
theory that Covid leaked from a Chinese lab have links
to Wuhan researchers
By Chris Jewers, MAILONLINE, 11 Sept 2021

Of the 27 scientists who wrote a letter in The Lancet
medical journal dismissing the possibility that Covid-19
originated from a Wuhan lab, 26 have links to its Chinese
researchers, their colleagues or its benefactors, a new
investigation has revealed.

On March 7 last year, the influential journal published
the letter in which the 27 scientists said they 'strongly
condemned conspiracy theories' surrounding the origins of
the coronavirus pandemic that has impacted all corners
of the world.

All debate into whether Covid-19 had man-made origins or
leaked from the lab in Wuhan - the Chinese city that was
ground-zero for the virus - was effectively shut down
by the letter.

However, an investigation by The Daily Telegraph newspaper
into the signatories has found that 26 of the 27 had some
link to the Wuhan Inst. of Virology, where the leak was
suspected - calling into question their impartiality.

Signatories include Dr Peter Daszak, the British president
of EcoHealth Alliance, which funnelled money into contro-
versial research at a Wuhan Inst. of Virology, & UK Govt
scientific adviser Sir Jeremy Farrar.

Only one - Dr Ronald Corley, a microbiology expert from
Boston University - has been found to have no links back
to funders or researchers at the Wuhan institute.

Below, the MailOnline looks at those signatories named by
The Telegraph's investigation - and other key figures &
orgs - to have links with the Wuhan Inst. of Virology.
Dr Peter Daszak, Zoologist, EcoHealth Alliance, New York
===================The orchestrator of the letter, British zoologist Peter
Daszak, was already found to have a conflict of interest
thru him being president of the US-based EcoHealth Alliance,
which has funded research at the Wuhan Inst. of Virology.

Despite declaring no conflicts of interest at the time the
letter was penned, The Lancet was forced to publish an
addendum to the letter acknowledging Daszak's connection
to EcoHealth Alliance.

In an email made public thru Freedom of Info requests,
Daszak is said to have revealed on Feb 8 that he composed
the letter after being asked by 'our collaborators' in
China for a 'show of support'.

Scandal hit Daszak has since been removed from the
UN-backed Lancet commission looking at the origins
of the pandemic.

However, The Telegraph has reported that 5 other
signatories also worked for the same organisation.
None of whom declared their involvement.

Two such signatories include Dr William Karesh, an
infectious disease expert and Professor Hume Field,
veterinary sciences expert.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, Tropical medicine expert & SAGE adviser
at The Wellcome Trust, London
=================The newspaper also found that 3 of the signatories were
from Britain's Wellcome Trust, which has also previously
funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Signatory Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the UK's Sage &
the director of the Trust, has in the past published work
with George Gao, the head of the Chinese CDC, whom he has
described as 'an old friend'.

Gao, who studied at Oxford U., is a former research asst
at the Wellcome Trust. Daszak has claimed Gao supported
his nomination to the National Academy of Sciences,
according to The Telegraph.

The Chinese scientist also has connections to Shi Zhengli,
the scientist who has become known as 'batwoman' on account
of her research into bat coronaviruses in Wuhan. Her team
discovered a virus in 2013 which is the closest ever
previously found to Sars-Cov-2 - the virus that causes Covid-19.

Two other signatories - Dr Josie Golding & Prof. Mike
Turner - are known to have current or past connections
with the Wellcome Trust.

Golding is the Trust's Epidemics lead, while Turner is a
Parasitology expert at the U. of Glasgow, and formerly
worked with the Trust.

Speaking to the MailOnline in June on the lab leak theory,
Farrar said: 'The origins of Sars-Cov-2 aren't yet certain
— it's possible the origin'll never be fully established —
but nature is a powerful force &, in my view, the most
likely scenario is that the virus crossed from animals
to humans and then evolved in humans.

'The best scientific evidence available to date points to
this. It is most likely it crossed the species barrier to
infect and then adapt to humans at some point in 2019, but
there are other possibilities which cannot be completely
ruled out and retaining an open mind is critical.

'There is no place for unsubstantiated rumour, or
conspiracy theories often fuelled for political purposes.'

Prof. Linda Saif, Microbiology expert, Ohio State U.
=======================Microbiology expert Linda Saif, another signatory, spoke
at a workshop in Wuhan in May 2017 along with Shi & Gao.
The workshop was partly organised by the Wuhan Institute
of Virology.

The level of security in Chinese labs was among the topics
discussed at the workshop, while Saif's talk covered
animal coronaviruses.

The Global Virome Project
=====================Two more signatories on The Lancet letter are in the
leadership team of the Global Virome Project - an org whose
goal is to detect and identify 99% or more of potential
zoonotic viral threats.

Daszak is the treasurer of the Global Virome Project, while
Gao helped launch it, with EcoHealth Alliance as one of
its partners.

The Global Virome Project took over from the Predict
project, which discovered more than 1,000 unique viruses
in animals and humans.

But according to The Telegraph, the Predict project was
also found to have part-funded contentious work by Wuhan
researchers on bat coronaviruses, which were altered to
see if they could infect humans.

The funds for the research were provided by the EcoHealth
Alliance.

Prof. John Mackenzie, Tropical infectious diseases expert,
Curtin U., Perth, Australia
=========================John Mackenzie was another of the signatories. The invest-
igation has found that he did not disclose that he was
still listed as a committee member of the the Scientific
Advisory Committee of Centre for Emerging Infectious
Diseases at the Wuhan institute.

Prof. Kanta Subbarao, Virology, U of Melbourne, Australia
================Subbarao, another signatory, spoke at a conference on
emerging diseases in Wuhan in 2016 which was part-organised
by the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Subbarao was still chief of the US-based National Inst. of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) Emerging Respiratory
Viruses Section.

Five more of the letter's signatories have all been found
by the investigation to have published articles with
Prof. Ralph Baric.

Professor Ralph Baric, UNC Chapel Hill
==============While Baric was omitted from the list of signatories, he
was collaborating with Shi Zhengli & the Wuhan Inst. of
Virology, researching genetically manipulated coronaviruses
to see if they could be made to infect humans.

Earlier this year, Republicans in the US argued that the
virus was possibly genetically modified, and cite an
interview with Baric in which he said it was possible to
engineer a virus, 'without leaving a trace.'

Baric was initially asked to add his name to the letter
by Daszak, with emails between the pair recently coming
to light ahead of The Lancet letter's publication, showing
that the pair decided to mask their association with the
Wuhan institute to avoid looking 'self-serving'.

Daszak told Baric that he'd publish the letter in such a
way that it doesn't 'link it back to our collaboration
so we maximise an independent voice'.

Prof Peter Palese, Microbiology expert, Icahn Schl of Med, NY
=====================A number of those who signed the letter have since changed
their stance with some calling for a full inquiry into
the origins of Covid-19.

Speaking to the MailOnline in June, Prof Palese - a micro-
biology expert said: 'I believe a thorough investigation
about the origin of the Covid-19 virus is needed.

'A lot of disturbing information has surfaced since the
Lancet letter I signed, so I want to see answers covering
all questions.'

Asked how he was originally approached to sign the letter
and what new info had come to light specifically, Palese
declined to comment.

Prof. Stanley Perlman, Microbiology expert, U of Iowa
===================Perlman told The Telegraph: 'It's difficult to eliminate
a possible lab leak as part of the process, so this still
needs to be considered.'

Prof. Charles Calisher, Microbiology expert, Colorado St. U.
=====================Calisher, who signed the letter downplayed the letter to
The Telegraph, saying that the intention behind it was
never to suggest Covid-19 might have not originated in
nature, but rather that there was a lack of data to make
such a claim.