A Timeline of Evidence of Laboratory Origins of SARS-CoV-2: What the Select Subcommittee Left Out

Here's a timeline mostly from the Select Subcommittee's report. They left out a few important events.

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped global public health and economic systems and ignited a contentious debate regarding its origins. While initial theories centered on zoonotic spillover from the Huanan Seafood Market, subsequent investigations increasingly pointed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) as a likely source of a lab-related incident. This timeline, which traces pivotal moments from late 2019 to late 2024, highlights emerging evidence supporting the lab-leak hypothesis, the manipulation of public narratives, and the obfuscation of critical data. It underscores the growing call for accountability and transparency as a foundation for rebuilding public trust and preparing for future pandemics.

Here is a timeline that includes key events missed by the Select Subcommittee:

1. 2008: Sequences with SARS-Cov-2 -like functional features are published in Genbank (NCBI’s Nucelotide database). The viruses were isolated from the anus of a bat in Hong Kong. Ralph Baric and colleagues downloaded the sequence, and brought is to life in the lab with a distinct method of reverse-engineering a functional mRNA sequence from the consensus amino acid sequence from four SARS-like viruses. The virus could be replicate well in hACE2 cells, so they modified in the lab to allow it to be better able to replicate in those cells.

2. Pre-Autumn 2019:

   1. Researchers at Nanjiang Command (NJC) or Wuhan Institute for Virology (WIV) leave fingerprints in a genetic sequence of a virus (restriction enzyme sites) that should not be there. The virus has features of SARS-CoV-2 not found in SARS-CoV-1. One institution passes the modified virus to the other, but we do not know which; the fact that they failed to use Baric’s no-see-ums method to cover their tracks suggests it was not WIV, but rather, NJC. (This is known due to sequence analysis conducted by IPAK in early 2020).

3. Autumn 2019:

   • Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) reportedly fell ill with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or a seasonal illness​. One master’s degree-level worker’s picture went missing from the website.

4. December 2019:

   • Early cases of COVID-19 emerge in Wuhan. No infected animals are found at the Huanan Seafood Market, undermining zoonotic origin hypotheses​.

5. January 30, 2020:

   • Dr. James Lyons-Weiler publishes an analysis suggesting SARS-CoV-2’s lab origin, noting, among other indicators, a unique 1378 bp sequence similar to pShuttle-SN, a vector widely used in research. He noted that Nanjiang Command has a sequence very similar to SARS-CoV-2.

6. February 1, 2020:

   • Fauci Phone Call: Dr. Anthony Fauci organizes a teleconference. The call included Dr. Francis Collins, then Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust. Other participants were leading virologists and infectious disease experts, such as Dr. Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research, Dr. Edward Holmes of the University of Sydney and Dr. Andrew Rambaut, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, to discuss the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 being engineered. Participants initially expressed concerns about features of the virus that appear inconsistent with natural evolution. This meeting sets the stage for the eventual “dismissal” of lab-leak theories​ without generating or finding any new evidence.

   • In private communications dated February 2, 2020, Dr. Rambaut expressed apprehension about the political ramifications of suggesting a lab origin, stating: "Given the s*** show that would happen if anyone serious accused the Chinese of even accidental release..."

7. February 3, 2020

   1. Dr. Lyons-Weiler (IPAK) discovers and reports an anomalous data change at NCBI’s Genbank that would prevent anyone from replicating the result he published four days prior.

8. February 16, 2020:

   • The paper "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2" is posted online, asserting that the virus could not have been engineered. Later, evidence emerges indicating Fauci’s involvement in shaping the narrative.

9. March 8, 2020:

   1. Pei Hao et al. publish a rebuttal to IPAK’s findings, dismissing Dr. Lyons-Weiler's claims of laboratory origin. They argue that the 1,378 bp sequence is present in natural coronaviruses and intentionally mischaracterize pShuttle-SN as “not a vector”, in spite of the manufacturer’s labeling it as a vector. This response is later criticized for logical flaws, obfuscation, and conflict of interest due to CCP oversight of Chinese scientists.

10. March 17, 2020:

    • "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2" is formally published in Nature Medicine. It concludes a lab origin is "implausible" despite private reservations from the authors about the virus's engineered features, and without presenting any new evidence that rules out lab origins.

11. January 2021:

    • The U.S. State Department publishes a fact sheet detailing WIV’s gain-of-function research and collaboration with the Chinese military​.

12. March 8, 2023:

    • Dr. Redfield testifies before Congress, stating that available data strongly supports a lab-leak origin over zoonotic spillover​.

13. April 11, 2023:

    1. IPAK publishes a report (ignored to date) that shows that a viral sequence isolated from a bat in Hong Kong prior to 2008 shows functional similarities to SARS-CoV-2 not found in SARS-CoV-1. This demonstrates that Chinese and American scientists had viruses that were similar to SARS-CoV-2 that not been considered candidates for “backbone” sequences from which SARS-CoV-2 could have been derived.

14. April 18, 2023:

    1. Former DNI John Ratcliffe testifies, emphasizing that intelligence overwhelmingly supports the lab-leak hypothesis.

11. June 2023:

    • ODNI Assessment concludes WIV researchers conducted gain-of-function experiments with inadequate biosafety, increasing the risk of accidental exposure​.

12. June 2024:

    • Dr. Alina Chan outlines key points supporting the lab-leak theory, including WIV’s proximity to the outbreak and lack of evidence for a zoonotic intermediary​.

13. September 2024:

    • Boris Johnson publicly states that COVID-19 likely resulted from a "botched experiment in a Chinese lab"​.

14. November 2024:

    • Dr. Ashish Jha highlights evidence of Chinese military interest in biowarfare, acknowledging the possibility of an accidental lab release​.

    • Dr. Tim Spector asserts that the lab-leak hypothesis is the most plausible explanation for the pandemic​.

The cumulative weight of evidence over the past five years increasingly supports a laboratory origin for SARS-CoV-2. From the questionable dismissal of early scientific concerns via conspiracy to confuse the public, to revelations about gain-of-function research and conflicts of interest, the pandemic’s unfolding has exposed significant gaps in global scientific accountability and transparency. This timeline emphasizes the need for rigorous, unbiased investigations keep tabs on the origin of all pathogens related to outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. We must ensure that lessons learned guide future policies. Only through such measures can humanity hope to mitigate the risks of future pandemics while restoring trust in scientific and public health institutions.