The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China was staging a sit-in protest after authorities locked him out of his lab.

The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China was staging a sit-in protest after authorities locked him out of his lab.

Virologist Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post Monday that he and his team had been suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab, the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since Zhang published the sequence in January 2020 without state approval. The move shows how the Chinese state continues to pressure and control scientists conducting research on the coronavirus.

  • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
    21·
    2 months ago

    At least two different organisation’s from the US couldn’t determine with any certainty if it came from one of the wet market in Wuhan (one of the many, many wet markets in china) or the virology lab in Wuhan where they were playing around with the virus. Considering the origin of the infected people it seems pretty certain that it was from either of those, and if that’s the case, the wet market doing it would look much less bad for China.