Open Letter To Nature Medicine

Abstract

Nature Medicine published a "Correspondence" in March 2020 entitled "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2" in which five virologists claimed: "Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus". However, Email messages and Slack direct messages among the authors of the paper show that the authors themselves did not believe the core conclusion of the paper. The authors' statements show that the paper was, and is, a product of scientific misconduct. Therefore, it is imperative that this misleading paper and damaging product of scientific misconduct will be removed from the scientific literature.

Full text

Open Letter To Nature Medicine
Biosafety Now, https://biosafetynow.org/open-letter-to-nature-medicine
July 26, 2023
Dear Editors:
On March 17, 2020, Nature Medicine published a Correspondence entitled “The
proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2” (1). The paper assessed the genome sequence of
SARS-CoV-2 and concluded, “Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a
laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus” and “we do not believe that
any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible.”
The paper played an influential role—indeed, the central role—in communicating the
false narrative that science established that SARS-CoV-2 entered humans through
natural spillover, and not through research-related spillover (2-7). The paper was
promoted by Joao Monteiro the chief editor of Nature Medicine, as an exceptionally
important and definitive research study (“great work”; “will put conspiracy theories
about the origin of #SARSCoV2 to rest “; (8)). The paper has been cited more than
5,800 times, making it the 68th most cited publication in all fields in 2020, the 16th
most cited publication in biology in 2020, and the 8th most cited publication on the
subject of COVID-19 in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Email messages and Slack direct messages among authors of the paper obtained
under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process or by the U.S. Congress and
publicly released in full in or before July 2023 (2-7), show that the authors did not
believe the core conclusions of the paper at the time it was written, at the time it was
submitted for publication, and at the time it was published. The authors’ statements
show that the paper was, and is, a product of scientific misconduct.
It is imperative that this misleading and damaging product of scientific misconduct be
removed from the scientific literature.
We, as STEM and STEM-policy professionals, call upon Nature Medicine to
publish an expression of editorial concern for the paper and to begin a process
of withdrawal or retraction of the paper.
Signers (in alphabetical order):
Amir Attaran, University of Ottawa
Paul Babitzke, Pennsylvania State University
Alina Chan, Broad Institute
Richard H. Ebright, Rutgers University
Mohamed E. El Zowalaty, One Health Initiative
Dorothy Erie, University of North Carolina
David Fisman, University of Toronto
Andrew Goffinet, University of Louvain
Richard N. Goldstein, Harvard University
Elisa D. Harris, Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland
Neil L. Harrison, Columbia University
Laura Kahn, One Health Initiative

Hideki Kakeya, University of Tsukuba
Justin B. Kinney, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Tatsu Kobayakawa, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology
Yanna Lambrinidou,Virginia Tech
Milton Leitenberg, University of Maryland
Eugene J. Lengerich, Pennsylvania State University
Allen A. Lenoir, Bioterrorism/Pediatrics Infectious Disease Center
Pankaj Mehta, Boston University
Jamie Metzl, Atlantic Council
David L. Nelson, Baylor College of Medicine
Bryce E. Nickels, Rutgers University
Takeshi Nitta, University of Tokyo
Andrew Noymer, University of California, Irvine
Roger Pielke Jr., University of Colorado, Boulder
Harish Seshadri, Indian Institute of Science
Rick Sheridan, Emske Phytochem
Eric S. Starbuck, Save the Children
Tyler Stepke, Johns Hopkins University
Atsushi Tanaka, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
Hiroshi Tauchi, Ibaraki University
Anton van Der Merwe, University of Oxford
Alex Washburne, Selva Analytics
Andre Watson, Ligandal
Roland Wiesendanger, University of Hamburg
Susan Wright, University of Michigan
References
(1) Kristian G. Andersen, Andrew Rambaut, W. Ian Lipkin, Edward C. Holmes and
Robert F. Garry, The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2, Nature Medicine, volume 26,
pages 450–452 (2020)
(2) Interim Majority Staff Report – The Proximal Origin of a Cover-Up: Did the
“Bethesda Boys” Downplay a Lab Leak?, July 12, 2023
(3) Amid Partisan Politicking, Revelations on a Covid Origins Article, The Nation, July
12, 2023
(4) House Republicans Accidentally Released a Trove of Damning Covid Documents,
The Intercept, July 12, 2023
(5) Top Scientists Misled Congress About Covid Origins, Newly Released Emails And
Messages Show, Public, July 18, 2023
(6) “So Friggin’ Likely”: New Covid Documents Reveal Unparalleled Media
Deception, Racket News,July 18, 2023
(7) Covid Origins Scientist Denounces Reporting On His Messages As A “Conspiracy
Theory, Public, July 20, 2023
(8) https://twitter.com/JMinImmunoland/status/1239966983279366145