Origins of Covid
EcoHealth Alliance Conducted Risky Experiments on MERS Virus in China
Documents released by the NIH contradict previous assertions by EcoHealth Alliance about its experiments on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan.
Mara Hvistendahl
Mara Hvistendahl writes about national security and technology. She was previously an investigative reporter at The Intercept, a National Fellow at New America, and the China bureau chief for Science. Her writing has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Economist, and Wired, and she has appeared as a commentator on the BBC, CBS, MSNBC, and NPR.
Mara is the author of “The Scientist and the Spy,” on an FBI counterintelligence investigation involving industrial espionage, and "Unnatural Selection," which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Book Prize.
Mara is the author of “The Scientist and the Spy,” on an FBI counterintelligence investigation involving industrial espionage, and "Unnatural Selection," which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Book Prize.
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Origins of Covid
NIH Bat Coronavirus Grant Report Was Submitted More Than Two Years Late
The unusual timing of a bat coronavirus grant report suggests that an earlier version may have been revised.
Termination of Scientists Sparks Concerns About Possible China-Related Probe
Colleagues fear the two scientists may have been targeted in fallout from the Justice Department’s controversial China Initiative.
Origins of Covid
Leaked Grant Proposal Details High-Risk Coronavirus Research
The proposal, rejected by U.S. military research agency DARPA, describes the insertion of human-specific cleavage sites into SARS-related bat coronaviruses.
Origins of Covid
NIH Documents Provide New Evidence U.S. Funded Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan
U.S.-funded experiment in China posed biosafety risks but did not cause Covid-19 pandemic, scientists say.
Origins of Covid
New Details Emerge About Coronavirus Research at Chinese Lab
More than 900 pages of materials related to U.S.-funded coronavirus research in China were released following a FOIA lawsuit by The Intercept.
Chinese Police Kept Buying Cellebrite Phone Crackers After Company Said It Ended Sales
The Israeli company purportedly left China last year. The subsequent sales of its products there could cloud its impending IPO.
Mass Resignations at Scientific Journal Over Ethically Fraught China Genetics Papers
“This situation is creating a shameful embarrassment that reflects poorly on all medical genetics journals and on the entire medical genetics community,” a critic of the studies wrote.
“Ridiculous Case”: Juror Criticizes DOJ for Charging Scientist With Hiding Ties to China
After a mistrial is declared in a closely watched case, a juror says the FBI owes an apology to University of Tennessee scientist Anming Hu.
Voices
I Visited a Chinese Lab at the Center of a Biosafety Debate. What I Learned Helps Explain the Clash Over Covid-19’s Origins.
We should let science and evidence prevail while recognizing that science, like other disciplines, is shaped by competing interests.