1/ This is the definition of a straw man argument. The question is not whether #sarscov2 was “manufactured” by China, but whether it might be a modified version of a bat coronavirus called RaTG13 that the Wuhan lab is known to have had in its possession... https://twitter.com/erikwemple/status/1306358881971470336">https://twitter.com/erikwempl...

2/ The modifications could have occurred through what virologists call “gain-of-function” research and don’t necessarily require explicit genetic insertions - @mlipsitch’s excellent discussion of (and argument against) the practice is here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7119956/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic...

3/ I have avoided talking about Dr. Li because both her claims and the politics around her are complicated. But she is far from the only virologist raising the issue. Check out @ayjchan for a more nuanced perspective. (Or don’t - if you’d prefer to keep your head in the sand.)