Robert F. Garry, Jr. on COVID-19 originated from a lab-related …

Robert F. Garry, Jr.

Professor of microbiology and immunology

As a scientist and a researcher, I am inclined to follow evidence. Although a ‘lab leak’ (defined here as a naturally occurring virus leaked by accident from a lab) is a possibility, there is zero bona fide evidence to support this notion.

AI Verified source (Oct 7, 2021)

2mo ago

Policy proposals and claims

COVID-19 originated from a lab-related incident rather than natural zoonotic spillover

votes Against

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AI Verified The quote is directly about the complete statement: it evaluates the lab-leak explanation for COVID-19’s origin, says there is no bona fide evidence supporting it, and says the evidence instead favors zoonotic spillover. That makes the author’s stance on the full lab-origin-vs-natural-origin claim readily determinable. ([sciline.org](https://www.sciline.org/covid-19/quotes-origins/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 2mo ago

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AI Verified Against: the quote says a lab leak is only a "possibility" but there is "zero bona fide evidence" for it, while "evidence ... favor[s] a zoonotic spillover theory"; in context on the SciLine origins page, that is opposition to the claim that COVID-19 originated from a lab-related incident rather than natural spillover. ([sciline.org](https://www.sciline.org/covid-19/quotes-origins/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 2mo ago

Quote authenticity verification history

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AI Verified SciLine’s “Origins of COVID-19” page dated October 7, 2021 contains this sentence verbatim as the opening of a longer quote and attributes it directly to “Robert F. Garry, Jr., Ph.D.”; Tulane’s faculty page corroborates his canonical name. The stored quote, date, source URL, and author are therefore correct. ([sciline.org](https://www.sciline.org/covid-19/quotes-origins/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 2mo ago

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Robert F. Garry, Jr. votes For

The clustering of early cases around the Huanan market reflects where the COVID-19 virus emerged, not just where testing looked

Based on the current available evidence, I believe the most plausible origin of SARS-CoV-2 is spillover from a bat to an intermediate animal, and then to a human. I further believe the available evidence indicates that this spillover happened natural...

more AI Verified source (Jun 18, 2024)