The Validity of critical pieces of evidence for the natural origin of SARS-CoV-2 is Dubious, and needed to be reconsidered.

The origin of SARS-CoV-2, the agent that causes the global pandemic known as COVID-19, is of both heated Academic debate and political debate. As this directly affect policy decision and global politics, this matter must be considered with uttermost scrutiny.

The leading academic hypothesis of the origin was that of a natural recombination event between the Bat coronavirus RaTG13 and the pangolin coronavirus MP789, followed by adaptation in humans after zoonotic transfer.

However, this theory hinges critically on the validity of both RaTG13 and MP789, which require both strains to be able to be independently sequenced, tested and validated for infectivity of it’s original host. Here we provide evidence that the validity of both strains are highly dubious and are incapable of sufficing the required conditions for both to be considered valid evidence for the hypothesis of a natural origin of SARS-CoV-2.