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Comment by Feng Gao

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Professor of medicine in infectious diseases at Duke University Medical Center studying viral evolution and pathogenesis
Identification of the source for any new zoonotic disease is important. Identification of the natural reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 will allow us to understand how the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurs. The information is critical for developing means to prevent new transmissions into humans. Knowing the hosts that harbor the evolutionary parent of SARS-CoV-2 will help us to develop animal models to test vaccine candidates, study viral pathogenesis, and find new drugs to treat COVID-19. Continuous surveillance of coronaviruses in their natural hosts and in humans will be key to rapid control of new coronavirus outbreaks.
AI Verified (Jun 11, 2020)
Source:
Feng Gao, quoted by SciLine, "Origins of COVID-19," posted June 11, 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 The quote is on the same origin question and frames SARS-CoV-2 in terms of a natural reservoir, animal hosts, and cross-species transmission into humans, which strongly points to a zoonotic-spillover view rather than a lab-related incident. In the cited SciLine source, Feng Gao also explicitly says there is no evidence SARS-CoV-2 was an engineered product or a laboratory isolate, making his stance on the complete statement determinable. ([sciline.org](https://www.sciline.org/covid-19/quotes-origins/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
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AI Verified The author is against the statement. In the quoted answer, Gao treats SARS-CoV-2 as a "new zoonotic disease" and focuses on its "natural reservoir," "cross-species transmission," and "natural hosts," which strongly implies a natural animal origin rather than a lab-related one. The source page reinforces this: Gao separately says there is "no evidence" SARS-CoV-2 is "an engineered product or an isolate in a research laboratory." ([sciline.org](https://www.sciline.org/covid-19/quotes-origins/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago

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AI Verified SciLine’s "Origins of COVID-19" page contains this exact paragraph verbatim on the June 11, 2020 entry for "Why is it important to understand the origin of SARS-CoV-2?" and attributes it to "Feng Gao, MD" of Duke University Medical Center. Duke also lists Feng Gao as infectious diseases faculty, corroborating the attribution. The stored author, date, quote text, and source URL are correct. ([sciline.org](https://www.sciline.org/covid-19/quotes-origins/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
replying to Feng Gao