China's 'Bat Lady' Shi Zhengli rages at COVID lab-leak origin theory; claims 'no evidence'

After months of quiet and living in shows amid growing clamour demanding a probe into Wuhan Institute of Virology, China's leing virologist Shi Zhengli, popularly kwn as Bat ly, broke her silence recently when she responded to outr against her research, that some believe led to COVID-19 pandemic which has w claimed millions of lives globally. In a short and dismissive interview with New York Times, Shi Zhengli, Director of Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), claimed incence and deunced suspicions over SARS-CoV-2 escaping from WIV after perhaps infecting one of Zhengli's colleagues.

Pertinently, Zhengli has argued that she cant produce evidence if ne exists. However, her short and succinct rebuttal in way puts a full stop on line of questioning as re are a number of questions that Wuhan Institute of Virology needs to answer regarding gain of function research that h been conducted by Shi Zhengli's group since 2015. As such, international demand is for China to open itself to a fair probe into COVID-19's origin.

RE | Frightening COVID Origin Charge Against China's Shi Zhengli, Wuhan's Bat Virologist

Shi Zhengli says ' evidence'

Zhengli h been under rar after WHO team's visit to China earlier this year, where she informed m of gain of function research that she h conducted since 2015.  

Responding to outcry against zootonic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent demands of evidence to submit proofs, Zhengli told NYT that she 'can't offer any evidence has re is evidence'. “I don’t kw how world has come to this, constantly pouring filth on an incent scientist,” she wrote in a text mess to American publication. WIV Director also shunned claims that several of her colleagues h been diagsed with COVID-like symptoms even before outbreak of pandemic. Significantly, she denied holding a source of any new coronavirus in her lab before pandemic.

In a previous interview, just at onset of pandemic, Shi Zhengli h given herself and WIV a clean chit just after a few initial tests and sequencing of pathogens found in first few patients of COVID-19 in China. She h claimed that she frantically went through her own lab’s records from past few years to check for any mishandling of experimental materials, especially during disposal of Coronaviruses, results of which led to a conclusion that ne of sequences matched those of viruses her team h sampled from bat caves. 

“With a scientific and responsible attitude, I checked our lab research on bat coronaviruses first. n, at on on Dec 31 we got partial genetic sequence of virus. After comparing sequence of this virus with published and unpublished virus sequences in our lab, we concluded that this was a vel Coronavirus. That was when I confirmed this was a newly discovered virus and h thing to do with a lab leak or anything else,” Zhengli h said. 

With arguments claiming a lab-leak ory and those against it intensifying with each passing day, re has been a unison demand of an independent probe into Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been rejected by China. China's defensive approach has also fuelled suspicions of possible lab-leak and me a strong case for why it must be investigated. As per some reports, Wuhan Institute of Virology’s main database of samples and viral sequences is said to have been shut off and inaccessible just months before virus' outbreak. 

Global demand for independent probe

Recently, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged cooperation and transparency over origins of COVID-19 while having a conversation with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi over a call on Friday. Ahe of G- meet recently, both US and UK h extended support to a "timely, transparent and evidence-based independent process" for next phase of study of COVID-19 origins by WHO.

A joint statement  by US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson re, "We will also support a timely, transparent and evidence-based independent process for next phase of WHO-convened COVID-19 origins study, including in China, and for investigating outbreaks of unkwn origin in future."

President Biden has also ordered a fresh US intelligence inquiry into origins of pandemic. Scientists and world leers are also calling for furr investigations to figure out wher virus originated naturally or leaked from Wuhan Institute of Virology.