Show Notes
Note: This is a freely accessible serialized version of Lab Leak Fever. Audio voiceover was AI generated for accessibility. Find an overview of all chapters here or consult the book website for further information. “I was always the ‘zoonati’ they could talk to.” Professor Stuart Neil, a virologist from King’s College London, chuckled about his perceived diplomatic role for DRASTIC and some other lab leak proponents. “I intrinsically thought this was an interesting story,” he said, remembering how he became intrigued by various ideas of how SARS-CoV-2 could have come about via a research-related accident ever since the Mojiang miner story blew up in the summer of 2020. Scientists are not averse to discussing controversial ideas; quite the opposite, many are attracted by them. Stuart came across some of the online figures who promoted it, and he thought there “were some people of good faith in this grouping.” He still believes they “were at some point,” but now laments that ultimately, even polite discussion and good faith engagements were made impossible by the emergent group dynamics of increasingly radical believers. “Gradually, that all got poisoned.” Open inquiry and exchange are as important in science as in a democratic society. When my sci-comm colleague Sam and I first interviewed him in November 2021, Stuart had advised us to “avoid people that think they have all the answers.” He was curious about new developments and cautious about drawing hard conclusions. In many ways, his attitude was a good sounding board for some of the more creative lab leak proponents to test their ever-new speculations, at least in the early years. Stuart’s open attitude in this controversy is representative of the free-for-all, evidence-driven approach characteristic of most scientists. He does not care who makes the argument as long as they bring the evidence to back it up. This was always the power and promise of the internet: to prevent group thinking and empower unusual voices to be heard where traditionally they would not get the chance. Stuart enjoyed entertaining alternative scenarios and engaging in good-faith speculations. He might have often been a bit rough on others and undiplomatic when it comes to nonsense, but he would acknowledge if they had made a solid point. Of course, like the rest of us, he migrated between amusement, bewilderment, and eye-rolling about the quality of popular discussion on the topic. However, as the scientific evidence continued to stack up against any type of research-related accident and uncertainty about what wild theories could still be entertained in good faith shrank, the fronts hardened beyond repair. Building bridges to reach lab leak believers became impossible. Eventually, even scientists who had previously established good rapport ended up being considered enemies by the lab leak camp. Soon enough, he found his safety threatened, his private communications FOIA’d, and even his kindergarten-age kids were stalked and doxxed. All for the simple sin of following the evidence. I reached out to Stuart because I felt it was time to tackle the most misunderstood and polarizing element in the whole origin controversy: the infamous furin cleavage site (FCS). What is known, what is still unknown, and what we can learn from it. The FCS is a short amino acid motif in the spike protein that is recognized by furin-like proteases, which are cutting enzymes. It is a dramatic functional element for those various factions captured by the idea that SARS-CoV-2 was somehow created in a lab. It is alleged to be the pandemic’s secret sauce. A trigger that was artificially inserted to turn an ordinary bat virus into the pandemic blight pathogen we have today. Indeed, the FCS is critical in SARS-CoV-2; it increases virality and is required for efficient human-to-human transmission. Yet, it’s almost a mythological force in popular discourse that is entirely based on two misconceptions. First, there is the common misund
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