It's that, if COVID-19 evolved naturally, you'd see the furin-19 cleavage site, in its nearest relatives: the most closely related coronaviruses.
BUT THEY DON'T HAVE ONE.
And then you go to the coronaviruses that DO have a furin cleavage site.
And their genetic sequence, around the spike, is only a 60% match to the COVID-19 spike.
AND (which you conveniently left out) COVID-19's spike, has on either side of it, genetic sequences which are used to cut-and-paste sections of genes in the lab.
Why are you quoting the Daily Beast?
Why are you spreading baldfaced lies about Yan's argument?
'COVID-19's furin site is unique and not found in nature' IS NOT THE SAME THING AS
'there has never been a furin cleavage site anywhere else'.
RE: Why are you spreading baldfaced lies about Yan’s argument?
I am simply quoting the Columbia University virologist. Your argument should be with her, not me, and it should be a SCIENCE BASED argument, not an ad hominem attack ( e.g., Steve Bannon was behind the paper’s publication ).
There have been experts on both sides of the issues. Let me copy and paste a post from a different thread:
A different article with a discussion of the issue. Some scientists say no, another Russian scientist says, yes manufactured. (Dueling Russian Scientists!)
https://www.independentsciencenews.org/health/the-case-is-building-that-covid-19-had-a-lab-origin/
“Scientific assessments of the lab escape theory
On April 17 the Australian Science Media Centre asked four Australian virologists: “Did COVID-19 come from a lab in Wuhan?“
Three (Edward Holmes, Nigel McMillan and Hassan Vally) dismissed the lab escape suggestion and Vally simply labeled it, without elaboration, a “conspiracy”. (No bias here!)
The fourth virologist interviewed was Nikolai Petrovsky of Flinders University. Petrovsky first addressed the question of whether the natural zoonosis pathway was viable. He told the Media Centre:
“no natural virus matching to COVID-19 has been found in nature despite an intensive search to find its origins.”
And a Norweigan Viralogist:
“A new study about the possible origin of the coronavirus has found that Covid-19 is not natural in origin.
The study, led by Norwegian virologist Birger Sorensen, has found that the coronavirus’s spike protein contains sequences that appear to be artificially inserted.
“The inserted sequences should never have been published. Had it been today, it would never have happened. It was a big mistake the Chinese made. The inserted sequences have a functionality that we describe. We explain why t...”
(Link to story behind a pay-firewall.)
I believe there are MERITS to opening up the paper to the public like you and me to read instead of submitting it to a scientific journal peer review which may or may not even be published.
That means IN EFFECT, an open peer review ( both pros and cons ) for everyone, even in the scientific community to refute or support.
My personal verdict as of today: My verdict: Possible... still needs to be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.