Jump to content

Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19
Cover
AuthorAlina Chan and Matt Ridley
PublishedNovember 16, 2021
PublisherHarperCollins
ISBN978-0-00-848749-2

Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19 is a 2021 book by Canadian molecular biologist Alina Chan and British science writer Matt Ridley. The authors describe ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19. An updated version was published in June 2022.[1]

Reviews

[edit]

The book has received mixed reviews.[2][3][4] The Wall Street Journal's reviewer said the book has compiled "perhaps the most comprehensive case for the lab-leak theory currently available".[5] Columnist Michael Hiltzik wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the authors "place[d] a conspiracy theory between hardcovers to masquerade as sober scientific inquiry."[6] A review in The Times described it as concluding that the lab-leak hypothesis is "highly possible" rather than "definitely true".[7] Writing in The Guardian, medical journalist Mark Honigsbaum considered the book's main argument to be unconvincing, and some of Chan and Ridley's descriptions to be "highly misleading".[8] Author Steven Poole writing for the Daily Telegraph was unconvinced by the central thesis although he did support the authors in their plea to discontinue gain of function research.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19". HarperCollins Publishers UK. 2022. front cover. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  2. ^ Pells, Rachel (22 November 2021). "Covid lab-leak researcher is glad she challenged China's Wuhan 'cover up' despite death threats". iNews. Retrieved 10 December 2021. Chan's critics have multiplied – as have her supporters – with the publication of Viral ... The book has invoked mixed reactions.
  3. ^ a b Poole, Steven (9 November 2021). "Viral by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley review: pushes the lab-leak theory behind Covid too hard". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 December 2021. Viral ... pretends to be agnostic between the two while pimping the lab-leak scenario for all it's worth... This book shows well how coronaviruses spill over naturally between species all the time... One can agree ... with the book's passionate argument for closer regulation of ... 'gain-of-function research'.
  4. ^
  5. ^ O'Neal, Adam (26 November 2021). "What Happened in Wuhan?". Wall Street Journal. In 'Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19,' molecular biologist Alina Chan and author Matt Ridley assemble perhaps the most comprehensive case for the lab-leak theory currently available.
  6. ^ Hiltzik, Michael (15 November 2021). "These authors wanted to push the COVID-19 lab-leak theory. Instead they exposed its weaknesses". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 December 2021. The Chinese are secretive about all things... The shame of 'Viral' is that it promotes a groundless theory that threatens to lead policymakers, as well as members of the public, down the wrong road, to humankind's enduring detriment.
  7. ^ Chivers, Tom (20 November 2021). "Viral by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley review — Did Covid-19 leak from a Chinese lab?". The Times. Retrieved 10 December 2021. These stories all seem to be real; I've followed up on all the ones I've mentioned and confirmed them... The book, fairly, does not conclude that the lab-leak hypothesis is definitely true, merely that it is highly possible, and I agree.
  8. ^ Honigsbaum, Mark (15 November 2021). "Viral by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley review – Was Covid-19 really made in China?". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2021. There is just one problem: nowhere do they present proof that Sars-CoV-2 was manufactured.