Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19
2021 book by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19 is a 2021 book by Canadian molecular biologist Alina Chan and British science writer Matt Ridley. The authors describe ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19. An updated version was published in June 2022.[1]
 | |
| Author | Alina Chan and Matt Ridley |
|---|---|
| Published | November 16, 2021 |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| ISBN | 978-0-00-848749-2 |
Reviews
The book has received mixed reviews.[2][3][4] The Wall Street Journal's reviewer said the book has compiled "perhaps the most comprehensive case for the lab-leak theory currently available".[5] Columnist Michael Hiltzik wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the authors "place[d] a conspiracy theory between hardcovers to masquerade as sober scientific inquiry."[6] A review in The Times described it as concluding that the lab-leak hypothesis is "highly possible" rather than "definitely true".[7] Writing in The Guardian, medical journalist Mark Honigsbaum considered the book's main argument to be unconvincing, and some of Chan and Ridley's descriptions to be "highly misleading".[8] Author Steven Poole writing for the Daily Telegraph was unconvinced by the central thesis although he did support the authors in their plea to discontinue gain of function research.[3]
