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Lab Leak Fever: The COVID-19 origin theory that sabotaged science and society
497 pages, Paperback
Published July 30, 2025
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September 17, 2025
We are now in 2025, and the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is mostly settled. However, on which side it has been settled depends entirely on your scientific literacy and media diet. Following conflicting 'low confidence' assessments from the United States Intelligence Community (infamous for their assessment of stockpiles of WMDs in Iraq), the Trump White House issued a fiat asserting the lab leak theory to be a verified fact. As this book details, this is an 'alternative fact' devoid of supporting evidence.
Over five years on from the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, it is time for the lab leakers to either put up or shut up. Instead, nominally anti-institutional conspiracy theorists have unquestioningly swallowed the official narrative of the new 'Deep State'. The myth has filtered up from fringe figures in the online sphere to the highest office in the United States, and trickled back down to the public. Scientists have been unable to keep up with this frenzy of misinformation and are often too timid when they try. This book is a step in the right direction.
This book doesn't belabour our bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, nor is it a treatise on the zoonosis vs lab leak debate. Instead, the scientific story of the pandemic is told via the human stories of scientists—a welcome counter to their co-ordinated dehumanisation from the anti-intellectual Right. This dehumanisation has a toll. Last month, an anti-vax gunman shot at the CDC headquarters and killed Police Officer and veteran David Rose. Those who profit from promoting anti-vax misinformation have washed their hands of this act of terrorism, and it is already a footnote in the collective memory. Three weeks later, RFK Jr. fired the Director of the CDC for refusing to kowtow to his authoritarian politicisation of science and anti-vax agenda.
The lab leak myth is not a harmless conspiracy theory—it has driven a backlash that scapegoats scientists. Instead of focusing on biosafety outside of the lab (such as in the wildlife trade), fingers are pointed at scientists who safeguard us against pandemics. What I appreciated most about this book is that it doesn't just defend against defamation from anti-intellectuals—it holds their feet to the fire and questions their funding and conflicts of interest. It features frank interviews with experts from around the world on the frontlines of the pandemic and even some who study the psychology of conspiracy theories.
I have some minor critiques. The jumping back and forth in time could be confusing to those unfamiliar with the sequence of events, and the summaries at the end of the chapters felt repetitive at times. While I appreciate that this book was independently published, I wish there had been closer attention to the copy editing. As an Australian, seeing Sydney misspelled as 'Sidney' was glaring. Also, the phrase 'best I can tell' is overused.
It is disheartening that this book is unlikely to outsell the sensationalist drivel that reinforces the conspiracies of their readers. However, I enjoyed reading it, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand both why the lab leak theory was never more than hot air and how this myth was promulgated to the detriment of scientists.
Over five years on from the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, it is time for the lab leakers to either put up or shut up. Instead, nominally anti-institutional conspiracy theorists have unquestioningly swallowed the official narrative of the new 'Deep State'. The myth has filtered up from fringe figures in the online sphere to the highest office in the United States, and trickled back down to the public. Scientists have been unable to keep up with this frenzy of misinformation and are often too timid when they try. This book is a step in the right direction.
This book doesn't belabour our bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, nor is it a treatise on the zoonosis vs lab leak debate. Instead, the scientific story of the pandemic is told via the human stories of scientists—a welcome counter to their co-ordinated dehumanisation from the anti-intellectual Right. This dehumanisation has a toll. Last month, an anti-vax gunman shot at the CDC headquarters and killed Police Officer and veteran David Rose. Those who profit from promoting anti-vax misinformation have washed their hands of this act of terrorism, and it is already a footnote in the collective memory. Three weeks later, RFK Jr. fired the Director of the CDC for refusing to kowtow to his authoritarian politicisation of science and anti-vax agenda.
The lab leak myth is not a harmless conspiracy theory—it has driven a backlash that scapegoats scientists. Instead of focusing on biosafety outside of the lab (such as in the wildlife trade), fingers are pointed at scientists who safeguard us against pandemics. What I appreciated most about this book is that it doesn't just defend against defamation from anti-intellectuals—it holds their feet to the fire and questions their funding and conflicts of interest. It features frank interviews with experts from around the world on the frontlines of the pandemic and even some who study the psychology of conspiracy theories.
I have some minor critiques. The jumping back and forth in time could be confusing to those unfamiliar with the sequence of events, and the summaries at the end of the chapters felt repetitive at times. While I appreciate that this book was independently published, I wish there had been closer attention to the copy editing. As an Australian, seeing Sydney misspelled as 'Sidney' was glaring. Also, the phrase 'best I can tell' is overused.
It is disheartening that this book is unlikely to outsell the sensationalist drivel that reinforces the conspiracies of their readers. However, I enjoyed reading it, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand both why the lab leak theory was never more than hot air and how this myth was promulgated to the detriment of scientists.
Displaying 1 of 1 review