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Comment by Mark Pagel
Professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Reading
The new Nature Microbiology paper is important for providing evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 (hereafter covid-19) jumped directly into humans from the horseshoe bats rather than via an intermediate host, suspected by many to be the pangolins. The authors’ analyses, if correct, suggest that coronaviruses capable of infecting humans have been present in bats for perhaps 40 to 70 years but have gone undetected. This is significant in pointing to the scale and nature of the problems that zoonotic transmission presents to humans — there may be numerous and as yet undetected viruses capable of infecting humans that reside in animal hosts.AI Verified (Jul 28, 2020)
3h ago
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AI Verified
The quote squarely addresses the origin question by saying SARS-CoV-2 moved into humans from horseshoe bats and by framing the issue as zoonotic transmission, which makes a natural-spillover stance substantially more likely than a lab-incident stance. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-looking-at-the-evolutionary-origins-of-the-sars-cov-2-virus-lineage-responsible-for-the-covid-19-pandemic/))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 3h ago
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AI Verified
He says the study provides evidence SARS-CoV-2 "jumped directly into humans from the horseshoe bats" and highlights the problem of "zoonotic transmission," which strongly implies he rejects the claim that COVID-19 originated from a lab-related incident. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-looking-at-the-evolutionary-origins-of-the-sars-cov-2-virus-lineage-responsible-for-the-covid-19-pandemic/))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 3h ago
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AI Verified
Verified. The Science Media Centre page dated July 28, 2020 attributes this passage to “Prof Mark Pagel, Professor of Evolutionary Biology, University of Reading,” and the source URL contains the quoted text verbatim in Mark Pagel’s comment. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-looking-at-the-evolutionary-origins-of-the-sars-cov-2-virus-lineage-responsible-for-the-covid-19-pandemic/))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 3h ago
replying to Mark Pagel