Science does not draw firm conclusions until irrefutable evidence is provided, so the actual answer is “don’t know for sure, but evidence points to a natural origin”.
Importantly though, it doesn’t really matter, since if it was some kind of lab escapee, there’s absolutely nothing that can be done about it. Overseas bio-engineering is not something that can be policed, since its functionally identical to the practice of studying certain aspects of medicine.
So, it’s kinda a waste of time and a red herring to care about it. The sort of bio-engineering that could theoretically create epidemics is absolutely happening, and cannot and should not be halted, since the same studies can also help cure diseases.
It’s not too different from a nuclear program, which can make weapons and/or civilian power plants. Except nuclear facilities are extremely hard to hide due to being huge and radioactive, where bio-engineering tools can be found in every major hospital.
Science does not draw firm conclusions until irrefutable evidence is provided, so the actual answer is “don’t know for sure, but evidence points to a natural origin”.
Importantly though, it doesn’t really matter, since if it was some kind of lab escapee, there’s absolutely nothing that can be done about it. Overseas bio-engineering is not something that can be policed, since its functionally identical to the practice of studying certain aspects of medicine.
So, it’s kinda a waste of time and a red herring to care about it. The sort of bio-engineering that could theoretically create epidemics is absolutely happening, and cannot and should not be halted, since the same studies can also help cure diseases.
It’s not too different from a nuclear program, which can make weapons and/or civilian power plants. Except nuclear facilities are extremely hard to hide due to being huge and radioactive, where bio-engineering tools can be found in every major hospital.