WASHINGTON — President Biden’s top science adviser said that while the intelligence community remains divided on the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, a new report concluding that a laboratory leak in China was the most likely cause is “serious and credible.”.
Eric Lander, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in an interview on Sunday that he had not seen the classified report prepared by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, but that he had been briefed on its findings..
“I think this is a very serious and credible report, and it’s one that deserves a lot of attention,” Lander said on “Fox News Sunday.”.
The report, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, found that a laboratory leak was the “most likely” explanation for the origin of the pandemic. The report was based on a review of scientific evidence and intelligence reports, and it concluded that the virus was most likely released from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, where the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in late 2019..
The report’s findings are a significant departure from the prevailing view of the intelligence community, which has said that it does not have enough evidence to determine how the virus originated. The intelligence community has been investigating two main theories: that the virus jumped from animals to humans naturally, or that it was leaked from a laboratory..
The new report is likely to reignite the debate over the origin of the pandemic, and it could add pressure on the Biden administration to demand more information from China about the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the laboratory that is at the center of the leak theory..
Lander said that the Biden administration is “taking this report very seriously,” and that it is “actively engaging” with the intelligence community to get more information. He said that the administration is also “working with our international partners to try to get to the bottom of this.”.
The report’s findings have been met with skepticism by some scientists, who argue that there is still not enough evidence to conclude that the virus leaked from a laboratory. However, the report has been praised by others, who say that it provides new evidence that supports the leak theory..
The debate over the origin of the pandemic is likely to continue, and it is unclear when or if there will be a definitive answer. However, the new report is a significant development, and it is likely to add to the pressure on China to provide more information about the Wuhan Institute of Virology..
