Scientists' Safety Concerns and Misleading Information Surrounding Covid Research at Wuhan Lab

Newly released documents and internal messages reveal that scientists expressed safety concerns over the Chinese lab at the center of the COVID-19 lab leak theory in a 2018 coronavirus research proposal. The proposal, called Project DEFUSE, sought to make bat coronaviruses more transmissible to humans by introducing human-specific cleavage sites to spike proteins. The researchers planned to conduct part of the research at the Wuhan lab, which did not meet US safety standards. The proposal was ultimately rejected and never funded by the US's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The documents add another layer to the lab leak theory, suggesting that the pandemic may have been caused by an infected lab tech or improper waste disposal. EcoHealth Alliance, the organization behind the proposal, stated that the research was never completed.