The fuss about the Hamburg study.
Hamburg’s science authority has carefully distanced itself in the controversial investigation into the origin of the coronavirus by nanoscientist Professor Roland Wiesendanger. “Freedom of science is an immovable good. Nonetheless, it applies to all forms of scientific research that if the data is unclear or uncertain, it is appropriate to be cautious in assessing it,” said a spokesman for Science Senator Katharina Fegebank (Greens) on Friday.
The nanoscientist Wiesendanger comes to the conclusion in a paper that both the number and the quality of the evidence for a laboratory accident at the virological institute of the city of Wuhan speak as the cause of the pandemic. His sources include YouTube videos – which triggered a wave of outrage on the internet. Fegebank’s spokesman said: “A team from the World Health Organization presented a comprehensive report on the outbreak in Wuhan just a few days ago and comes to other possible scenarios.” When the final report of the World Health Organization (WHO) will be presented is open. At the end of the visit, the participating expert Peter Ben Embarek said that the virus escaped from a Chinese laboratory as unlikely.
The university did not want to comment on the investigation. The University of Hamburg “exercises no censorship on the research subjects and results of its scientists,” said a spokeswoman. There was also no comment from scientists such as top virologist Marylyn Addo, the head of the Bernhard Nocht Institute, Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, or University President Dieter Lenzen. “This is not a study for scientific specialist publications,” said Wiesendanger and announced that it would be published soon in several languages. “This scientific criticism and methodology is still completely missing in this case,” said Markus Weißkopf from the Science in Dialogue Initiative.
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