Comment by LeonB

Early on the article makes a conjecture that others also make which I think is part of why the topic is so hot:

“Whether the virus emerged as a result of a leak from a laboratory or from nature has become one the most controversial problems in science.”

The words “in science” are my problem here: people thinking this is a “scientific” question.

It’s a history question, a political question, and could be made into a forensic question. But science does not ask this kind of question!

Is it possible for a lab to leak a virus? That’s a question science can ask, but it doesn’t answer this one.

So we end up with a belief that scientists can answer this question… but it isn’t a “scientific” question in the first place.