A group of eighteen scientists from around the world are calling for an international blue-ribbon committee to determine the origin of the coronavirus, including studying the possibilities of “both natural and laboratory spillovers.”

The group references a report produced by the World Health Organization that did not completely rule out that the virus was produced in a laboratory in Wuhan, claiming that the investigators didn’t properly address the possibility.

“Although there were no findings in clear support of either a natural spillover or a lab accident, the team assessed a zoonotic spillover from an intermediate host as ‘likely to very likely,’ and a laboratory incident as ‘extremely unlikely’,” the letter says.  “Only 4 of the 313 pages of the report and its annexes addressed the possibility of a laboratory accident.  Notably, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus commented that the report’s consideration of evidence supporting a laboratory accident was insufficient and offered to provide additional resources to fully evaluate the possibility.”

While the possibility of a release from a laboratory has not been completely ruled out, the scientific community has noted that the genetic makeup of the virus indicates it was a natural evolution of an existing virus that was spread as early as mid-2019.

Conservatives, including some in Congress and on right-wing propaganda outlets, have promoted the conspiracy theory that the virus was an intentional attack from China or that US officials, including the CDC’s Dr. Anthony Fauci, funded the development of the coronavirus variant.