Wuhan research

The Covid virus story is a good example of how politics can influence science. When the virus first appeared experts concluded it came from a research lab in Wuhan,China. So far, so good. Then Trump called it the China virus and in comes the politics. The experts responded to this by saying the virus came from a bat and not a lab. This argument was big news for a few months and then started to disappear. Since then more and more evidence has indicated that the virus came from the lab. There is still no proof of its origin and China will not cooperate in the investigation. The real dangerous theory is that China planned to create the virus and release it on the world. This idea gained credibility when it was revealed that China stopped all travel from Wuhan to the rest of China but not to the rest of the world. It was at a time when China's economy was sliding and the US economy was booming. China coerced the WHO to say the virus came from an animal but the WHO lost much of its credibility when the close ties between the leadership in WHO with China came to light. Adding to the mystery was the fact that the US was paying for some of the research at Wuhan which some say included something called gain of function which means making a virus more deadly. Fauci said they gave money to the lab but it was not used for gain of function. This is hard to determine much like Planned Parenthood saying the government money they received is not used for abortion but for other women's health issues.