Some people believe the coronavirus is the result of a bioweapon lab experiment that got out of control? What do you think?

I have read recent scientific research that points either way, to both yes and no. It is hard to make up your mind without a background in genetic engineering, especially when scientists themselves take opposing positions.

This is why I keep a mental list of possibilities, and continue reading. Thanks zichi for the other information.

I think that it could be or could not be, and while we are in the middle of the situation, the question is one better left aside, rather than building hysteria.

Having done some further reading on this, the idea has moved up into my top five theories. The science is pretty deep, though, testing the limits of my feeble brain.

Perfectly valid question to ask people's thoughts. The possibility of leaked bio-weapon material is in my top ten theories list, but there are other theories higher up at the moment.

Despite a lot of talk and some good intentions, HK certainly isn't the cleanest place in the world, and the way food is processed and handled is pretty cavalier. A bit of muck and colour is all very well, but sometimes they take the piss.

That's what a british friend of mine said when he went to do a martial arts conference there. He said it was actually abismal. I was shocked. Always had the opposite impression of Hong Kong .

The link is very simple. You go to a market and there are stalls with caged chickens. There is chicken meat set out on display. That comes from chickens that were very recently alive in the cages, and taken out, killed at the stall, and processed for sale. It's fresh meat. You can buy chicken this way in Hong Kong and China; Taiwan recently phased out market slaughter.

Thanks for that info. Its very similar to many places in the mideast. But I think they too have phased this practice out. Thanks again for that info.

If you wish, I can provide more detail to answer your where question (it won't be fascinating, so spare yourself), or if you don't know what happens at Chinese markets, I can explain the link between buying chicken at a market and eating market-killed chicken.

Yeah please do

That being the case, it's a shame market-killed chicken meat doesn't actually taste noticeably better than other chicken.

When and where did you have market-killed chicken meat?

Irresponsible to say in a medical crisis, where people are afraid, that "some people believe" when polling. You should have said "Conspiracy theorists believe," but then you would be guilty of spreading conspiracy theory. Actually, you are guilty of that. Japantoday is being irresponsible, unlike a reputable media outlet. Yes, anything's possible, but that doesn't justify spreading conspiracy theory in a medical crisis.

Well it is China that is being spoken of so one has to ponder all possibilities.

My normal reaction is there are always conspiracy theorists.

In this case the known efforts of the Chinese military/state to subvert and steal biological research (along with any other they can get their hands on), the proximity of a known Bio weapons research facility and the epicenter of the outbreak are at least interesting, and should not be dismissed out of hand without proof, any more than it should be blindly accepted without proof.

Yep, it's definitely the aliens, what else could it possibly be!

As Toasted Heretic said, people can believe whatever they want, the aliens infected the bats in the market or whatever.

There have been several publications in peer-reviewed top journals about the probable origins of the virus; I will go with the specialists' opinion. Unfortunately, the rational, scientific approach is less appealing to internet wariors than sensationalist theories...

I think there's a lot of misinformation out there.

I can't say what caused it, am not a scientist. But I'd tend to listen to the experts any time over the conspiracy theorists and trash talkers.

Surprised JT would openly ask its readers to stoke the flames of conspiracy.

Maybe, but to dismiss it out of hand is to be incredibly naive. Do you really think the Chinese government is not researching bioweapons?

Ridiculous. And dangerous. Surprised JT would openly ask its readers to stoke the flames of conspiracy.

Well it did knock the Hong Kong protestors off the front page.

Nah. Keeping exotic animals with various diseases together in close proximity to people, though? Yep.

Ridiculous.

Who knows? Who cares? The end result is the same. Sick people.

I second CrisGerSan, that's the same stuff I've read about the virus. If I can add to that, I've read that the very first person who manifested the coronavirus hardly went near the markets where the exotic meats were sold, suggesting that the source could've been somewhere or something else.

I agree 100% with CrisGerSan.

I'm not saying that it is a bioweapon; just that it is possible

It is indeed very possible. There are reports of that nature and were aired early in the crisis but quickly surpresed. There are Chinese military facilities for Bio Warefare in that region and could have escaped. i am very sure it was not released on purpose. Not even the dictatorial leadership of modern China which resembles the ancient empire more and more would do such a thing to their own people I hope.

There are so many questions about this virus, not just the numbers of those infected and dead, but also about its origin.

As many have pointed out, the BL4 lab in Wuhan is not far from the market the virus is supposed to have originated from. This lab probably had a leak of a bioweapon. There are serious questions about the research labs in China and the security of the viruses they are studying.

Recently two researchers at Harvard: the head of the Chemistry Department, Charles Leiber, and a Chinese national, Zaosong Zheng, doing research in pathology at Harvard's lab at Beth Deaconess Medical Center were arrested for possible espionage ties to China. Zheng was arrested for trying to smuggle biological research items out of a Boston lab and into China, aboard a commercial flight.

The kind of genetic research Zheng was doing can be used for medical and vaccine purposes but also for bioweapons research. It seems clear that China was actively trying to bribe U.S. researchers, and to infiltrate their labs to steal research that could be very dangerous if not handled properly.

It is worth asking questions about the level of security and safety of Wuhan's BL4 lab, the viruses there and all of Chinas labs, especially when one of the top Chinese research scientists is trying to smuggle biological matter into China for testing in his lab, by hiding it in his socks.

If we are not investigating the origins of the virus and these espionage incidents, then more pandemics will follow.

excuse me, it,s the result of Chinese eating rats, snakes, bats, cats, dogs and God knows what else ...

Nope.