TheUnitedStates"politicizingofeffortstotracetheoriginsofCOVID-19willleadtomoreconfusionandaprotractedblamegame,whichwillultimatelyunderminethescientificprocessofdiscoveringthecauseoftheworstpandemicinacentury,expertssaid.

SaturdaymarkedthethirdanniversaryoftheWorldHealthOrganizationdeclaringCOVID-19aglobalpandemic.WHODirector-GeneralTedrosAdhanomGhebreyesussaidonTwitterthatunderstandingtheoriginsofCOVID-19remainsascientificandmoralimperativetohelptheworldpreventfutureoutbreaks.

Lastweek,thejournalSciencepublishedanarticlelamentingthatsciencehadtakenabackseatatthefirstUScongressionalhearingontheoriginsofthenovelcoronavirusasUSDemocratsandRepublicansengagedinasparringmatchthatshednonewlightontheissue.

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"Itwasverydisappointing,andalmostunbelievablydivorcedfromthescience,"MichaelWorobey,anevolutionarybiologistfromtheUniversityofArizona,toldScience.Hispublishedresearchinthejournal,supportingnatural"zoonotic"originsofthevirus,hasbeenattackedbyproponentsofthe"lab-leaktheory".

Lastmonth,theUSDepartmentofEnergychangeditsviewaboutthelikelycauseofCOVID-19from"undecided"aboutitsoriginstosuspectinga"lableak"behindthepandemic.TheviewwasbasedonanewclassifiedintelligencereportprovidedtotheWhiteHouseandkeymembersoftheUSCongress.

MariaVanKerkhove,WHO"stechnicalleadonCOVID-19,saidonTwitterthatshewasfrustratedthattheUSdidnotshareadditionalinformationwithWHOonitslatestassessmentofthevirus"origins.

"Wedon"tcompletelyhavetheanswerstohowthispandemicbegan,anditremainsabsolutelycriticalthatwecontinuetofocusonthis,"shesaid.

DespitetheDepartmentofEnergyclaimingithadreachedthenewconclusionin"lowconfidence",theshifthasreignitedspeculationandconspiracytheoriesregardingtheoriginsofCOVID-19.

Sincethestartofthepandemic,someUSpoliticianshavefrequentlyallegedthattheviruswasmanufacturedandescapedfromalabinWuhan,Hubeiprovince.Chinafirmlyopposedsuchspeculations.

Lastweek,theUSSenatepassedabillrequiringthedeclassificationofinformationrelatedtoCOVID-19origins.However,thebillstatedthereasonforthedisclosureasUSpoliticians"beliefthatthevirushadleakedfromaChineselab.

DespiteinvestigationsbyWHO,globalscientificcommunitieshaven"treachedadefiniteconclusiononthevirus"origins.Buttheygenerallyleantowardfavoringthespilloverhypothesis,whichsaysthatthevirusjumpedfrombatstohumans.

USDirectorofNationalIntelligenceAvrilHainessaidlastweekthattheintelligencecommunityhasreachedabroadconsensusthatthepandemicwasnottheresultofabioweaponorgeneticengineering,thoughitisstillundecidedonthevirus"origins.

Lastweek,ChineseForeignMinistryspokeswomanMaoNingsaidtheUShasbeen"politicizing,weaponizingandmanipulating"theeffortstotracethevirus"originstosmearandattackChinawithoutprovidingevidence.

Chinahasalwayssupportedandparticipatedinglobalscience-basedoriginstracingofthevirus,whilefirmlyopposingpoliticalmanipulationoftheissueinanyform,shesaid.

ChinesescientistshavesharedvitaldataandmadeinsightfuldiscoverieswithinternationalpeersontheoriginsofCOVID-19.

OneexampleisarecentstudybyMangShifromSunYat-senUniversityinGuangdongprovinceandEdwardHolmesfromtheUniversityofSydney,Australia.Theyidentifiedabatvirus,BtSY2,thatiscloselyrelatedtoSARS-CoV,whichcausedaglobaloutbreakin2003,andSARS-CoV-2,theoriginalCOVID-19strain,suggestingahistoryofrecombinationeventsthathadtakenplace.

Thestudy,publishedonthepreprintrepositorybioRxivinNovember,revealedanunexpectedlyhighfrequencyofco-infectionofvirusesinbats.

Recombinationisamechanismofcoronavirusesthatallowsthemtoexchangegeneticmaterials,leadingtonewgeneticvariantsandtraits.Thisstudyaddstothemountingevidencethatthevirushadoriginatedfromnature.

OnMarch1,ForeignMinistryspokeswomanMaosaidtheUSputtingitsintelligencecommunityinchargeofamatterofscienceisaclearsignthattheissuehasbeenpoliticized.ShesaidtheUSwillnotsucceedinmaligningChinabyrehashingits"lab-leaktheory".

"WeurgetheUStorespectscienceandfacts,stoppoliticizingtheissue,stopitsintelligence-ledandpolitics-drivenoriginstracing,andstopundermining…globalcooperationonscience-basedoriginstracing,"sheadded.

InanothermediabriefingonMarch6,MaosaidthatChinahadcontributedthemosttotheglobalCOVID-19origins-tracingefforts,andcalledontheUStobemoretransparentaboutitssuspectedearlycasesandthesituationsregardingitsbiolabsworldwide.