US-China Researchers Proposed Engineering SARS-CoV-2-Like Viruses Before the COVID Pandemic

Published on January 19, 2024

Scientists from the United States aimed to work with the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) to create new coronaviruses similar to the COVID-19 virus in 2018, according to newly released documents. On Thursday, the U.S. Right to Know, a nonprofit public health research group, published documents related to a U.S.-China research grant proposal called DEFUSE. Under the research program, “American scientists planned to work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology to engineer novel coronaviruses with the features of SARS-CoV-2 the year before the virus emerged from that city,” the nonprofit said in a Jan. 18 post. Multiple U.S. agencies believe the COVID-19 virus leaked from the WIV. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report in June last year lending credence to the theory....