Alice Hughes on COVID-19 originated from a lab-related …

Alice Hughes

Biodiversity researcher and group leader of Biodiversity Analytics of Terrestrial Ecosystems at the University of Hong Kong

There is no data to support a manmade origin, whilst the infections of mink and other wildlife highlight the ability of the virus to jump between hosts, and similar viruses circulating in wildlife highlight that like the majority of viruses Covid is almost certain to have a natural origin, starting in Rhinolophid (horseshoe) bats, spilling into an intermediate host, and then spilling over into humans through captive wildlife, which we know to be competent hosts of these viruses.

AI Verified (Nov 28, 2023)

Source:

Alice Hughes, 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 ai_verified: The quote is directly about COVID-19’s origin. In source context, Hughes is responding to claims the virus may have been man-made and says there is no supporting data for that view, while describing COVID-19 as almost certainly having a natural bat-to-intermediate-host-to-human spillover origin. That makes a stance on the complete statement clearly 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/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified The quote explicitly opposes the statement: it says there is "no data to support a manmade origin" and that COVID was "almost certain to have a natural origin" through bat-to-intermediate-host-to-human spillover, which is the opposite of a lab-related origin. ([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 provided URL is dated November 28, 2023 and attributes the statement to "Prof Alice Hughes, Group Leader Biodiversity Analytics of Terrestrial Ecosystems (BAT) group, University of Hong Kong"; the quoted sentence appears there verbatim in her comment (lines 80-82). The stored quote text, date, author, and source URL are therefore consistent with the source. ([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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Alice Hughes votes For

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

The species present, and other data (such as where positive samples were collected) corroborates previous suppositions on the potential role of competent hosts as a potential origin of SARS-CoV2, and the role of the market as an initial source of vir...

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