[riri]

It has pretty much been my assumption that it was accidental exposure from an experimental lab.

So, if we assume it is a man made pathogen, where does that put us as far as a cure or vaccination goes? I know next to nothing about microbiology so bear with me. (I find it quite fascinating though--it's a shame we pick our college majors at the age most of us do!)

I am inclined to think a man made pathogen if picked apart would show some sort of logic, planning and organization that would not be found in nature. Things in nature are always assymetrical, chaotic...hence, the beauty of nature.

So, would something man made not be easier to dissect and "cure" rather than something natural?

I'm grasping for hope here...

[CathyRyan]

You are right about having to pick a major at the wrong time in life. If I could just have it to do over again (knowing what I know now). I do not know enough to a have an opinion on if this is man made or not but I would really love to be a fly on the wall near a group a professional Bug Hunters. I bet they are all over this topic.

[EternalHope]

I'm not a doctor, but from what I've read a man made virus could go either way (harder, or easier, to cure).

However, the medical response to sequencing the genome seems to be pretty clear: The docs were disappointed.

Although the virus clearly seems to be from the coronavirus family, it did not show a clear link to any of the three coronavirus groups. Hence, they did not get a good read on where it originally came from. Nor did they get a good read on what animals might be useful for testing, nor did they get hints on what treatments and/or vaccine approaches might be most likely to work.