In an interview with THE WEEK, Yuri Deigin, cofounder of the independent group DRASTIC investigating the origins of the pandemic, says a lab in Wuhan in early 2020 developed another virus, potentially a much more dangerous one. He also talks about the progress the group has made and why he is not optimistic about China revealing information. A full-time drug developer in Canada, Deigin is currently working on therapies to slow the onset of Alzheimer’s and on its eventual reversal. Excerpts:
Q/ It has been more than three years since the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan. Yet, there has been no headway; the investigations into its origins have been halted.
A/ People who hold the information are happy with the status quo and China is not going to release any new information that could help us investigate the lab [in Wuhan]. They are insistent that the lab had nothing to do with it, but at the same time they are non-transparent about sharing any information about the lab.
In the US, things have shifted slowly. The Republicans got control [of the House of Representatives] and are starting to look into the American side of things like [the NGO] EcoHealth and all the NIH-funded research that was being done in Wuhan. The problem is that, in the US, it is still not mandatory to answer the questions the likes of Senator Paul are raising, and to share the data the Republican investigators are requesting.
This story is from the March 12, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the March 12, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
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