David L. Robertson on COVID-19 originated from a lab-related …

David L. Robertson

Virologist at the University of Glasgow specializing in viral genomics and evolution

There is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 was man-made let alone that it escaped from a lab. All of the scientific data clearly points to a virus naturally circulating in horseshoe bats being transmitted to humans most probably via contact with infected live animals at the Huanan Seafood market in Wuhan in late 2019.

AI Verified (Nov 28, 2023)

Source:

David Robertson, expert reaction published by the Science Media Centre, November 28, 2023.

3mo 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 Directly on the complete statement: the quote explicitly rejects a lab-made/lab-escape origin and says the scientific data instead point to natural transmission from bats to humans via infected live animals at the Huanan market, making the author’s stance readily determinable. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-comments-made-by-michael-gove-at-the-covid-19-inquiry-about-the-origins-of-covid-19-saying-the-virus-may-have-been-man-made/?utm_source=openai)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified He explicitly rejects a lab-origin account, saying there is "no evidence" SARS-CoV-2 "escaped from a lab," and says the data instead point to natural transmission from bats via infected live animals at the Huanan market. That is clear opposition to the statement. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-comments-made-by-michael-gove-at-the-covid-19-inquiry-about-the-origins-of-covid-19-saying-the-virus-may-have-been-man-made/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified The quote is authentic. The Science Media Centre page at the supplied URL is dated November 28, 2023 and attributes the statement to “Prof David Robertson, Head of Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics (Centre for Virus Research), University of Glasgow”; the quoted text appears there verbatim. University of Glasgow pages identify this scientist as Professor David L Robertson, so the stored author form “David L. Robertson” is consistent with the canonical identity. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-comments-made-by-michael-gove-at-the-covid-19-inquiry-about-the-origins-of-covid-19-saying-the-virus-may-have-been-man-made/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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David L. Robertson votes For

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

There is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 was man-made let alone that it escaped from a lab. All of the scientific data clearly points to a virus naturally circulating in horseshoe bats being transmitted to humans most probably via contact with infected l...

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