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Comment by Daniel Altmann

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Professor of immunology at Imperial College London
Analysis of the origins of SARS-CoV-2 has been one of the most contentious area in research during this pandemic. For my taste, the bulk of the data fit with the consensus that this is a virus transferred to humans from bats or pangolins, where one can find terribly similar coronaviruses. Thus, this study is interesting, but perhaps an outlier opinion.
AI Verified (Sep 15, 2020)
Source:
Daniel Altmann, expert reaction published by the Science Media Centre, September 15, 2020.
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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 Relevant: the quote directly addresses SARS-CoV-2’s origin and contrasts animal transfer from bats/pangolins with the preprint’s lab-modification claim, making opposition to the lab-origin statement substantially more likely. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-preprint-entitled-unusual-features-of-the-sars-cov-2-genome-suggesting-sophisticated-laboratory-modification-rather-than-natural-evolution-and-delineation-of-its-probable-s/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
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AI Verified He is against the statement: he says "the bulk of the data fit with the consensus" that SARS-CoV-2 was transferred to humans from bats or pangolins, and calls the lab-origin preprint "perhaps an outlier opinion," which implies he favors zoonotic spillover over a lab-related origin. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-preprint-entitled-unusual-features-of-the-sars-cov-2-genome-suggesting-sophisticated-laboratory-modification-rather-than-natural-evolution-and-delineation-of-its-probable-s/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago

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AI Verified The Science Media Centre page dated September 15, 2020 contains this exact wording and attributes it to Prof Daniel Altmann immediately above the quote, so the stored author, date, source URL, and quote text are correct. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-preprint-entitled-unusual-features-of-the-sars-cov-2-genome-suggesting-sophisticated-laboratory-modification-rather-than-natural-evolution-and-delineation-of-its-probable-s/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
replying to Daniel Altmann