We Need to Prepare for the Next Pandemic

Many people have debated the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Is it a natural virus that emerged from the live-animal market in Wuhan, or is it the product of a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, released either by accident or on purpose? No one outside the Chinese leadership knows for sure. But the one thing that everyone seems to agree about is that it could have been made in that lab.

Let that sink in for a minute: If SARS-CoV-2 could have been made in that lab, the next deadly virus could be made in a similar facility, which is to say in the kind of facility a well-heeled terrorist group could easily build or gain access to. Such groups must surely be taking note of the havoc that has been caused by the pandemic. We need to be prepared for the possibility that they take it upon themselves to make the next deadly virus and unleash it on the world.

About the Author

Robert Zubrin

Robert Zubrin is an aerospace engineer and the author of twelve books, most recently The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet.

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Many people have debated the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Is it a natural virus that emerged from the live-animal market in Wuhan, or is it the product of a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, released either by accident or on purpose? No one outside the Chinese leadership knows for sure. But the one thing that everyone seems to agree about is that it could have been made in that lab.

Let that sink in for a minute: If SARS-CoV-2 could have been made in that lab, the next deadly virus could be made in a similar facility, which is to say in the kind of facility a well-heeled terrorist group could easily build or gain access to. Such groups must surely be taking note of the havoc that has been caused by the pandemic. We need to be prepared for the possibility that they take it upon themselves to make the next deadly virus and unleash it on the world.