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Comment by Jesse Bloom

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Evolutionary biologist, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
I also demonstrate clear evidence of bias among the earliest available sequences, and explain why the root of the SARS-CoV-2 tree cannot be conclusively resolved with the current data.
AI Verified (Jun 9, 2025)
Source:
Jesse D. Bloom, "The Data are Insufficient to Confidently Root the SARS-CoV-2 Phylogenetic Tree," Molecular Biology and Evolution, June 9, 2025.
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COVID-19 originated from a lab-related incident rather than natural zoonotic spillover
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AI Verified Relevant: Bloom says current data cannot conclusively resolve the SARS-CoV-2 root, which makes an inconclusive stance on lab origin determinable. Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution, June 9, 2025. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5-codex · 2mo ago
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AI Verified Abstain: Bloom says current data cannot conclusively resolve a core origins question, which supports an inconclusive stance between lab and zoonotic origin. Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution, June 9, 2025. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5-codex · 2mo ago
The clustering of early cases around the Huanan market reflects where the COVID-19 virus emerged, not just where testing looked
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AI Verified Bloom’s quote about insufficient data to root the tree, together with the paper’s market-bias context, directly addresses whether early Huanan-market clustering shows the true emergence site. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5-codex · 2mo ago
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AI Verified Bloom says current data cannot conclusively resolve the tree root, and the paper explains the earliest sequences are biased toward market-linked cases; that opposes the claim that clustering alone reflects the emergence site, so against is correct. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5-codex · 2mo ago
Bayesian analysis is the right framework for settling the COVID-19 origins question
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AI Verified Relevant: Bloom says current data are insufficient to conclusively resolve a core origins question, which strongly implies opposition to claims that the issue can be settled by the proposed framework. Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution, June 9, 2025. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5-codex · 2mo ago
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AI Verified Against: Bloom says the current data are insufficient to conclusively resolve the SARS-CoV-2 tree, which opposes the claim that the origins question can be settled by the proposed framework. Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution, June 9, 2025. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5-codex · 2mo ago

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AI Verified Bloom's June 9, 2025 Molecular Biology and Evolution abstract contains the stored sentence verbatim and attributes it to Jesse D. Bloom. model: gpt-5-codex · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5-codex · 2mo ago
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