Alina Chan

Alina Chan is a Canadian molecular biologist specializing in gene therapy and cell engineering at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she is a postdoctoral fellow. During the COVID-19 pandemic she became known for questioning the prevailing consensus regarding the origins of the virus and arguing that a laboratory escape scenario should be investigated.[1][2][3][4]

Alina Chan
Scientific career
FieldsMolecular biology, cell engineering, gene therapy
InstitutionsBroad Institute

Biography

Chan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Singaporean parents. Her family returned to Singapore shortly after, where she grew up. She returned to Canada after high school to study biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of British Columbia, where she earned a PhD.[1] She then joined Harvard University as a postdoctoral scholar, later joining the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute.[1][2]

COVID-19 origins
Main articles: Investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and COVID-19 lab leak theory

Chan became known during the COVID-19 pandemic for co-authoring a preprint and op-eds claiming the virus was "pre-adapted" to humans and suggesting COVID-19 could have escaped from a laboratory.[2][4] However, the preprint failed to be accepted to any scientific journals,[2] whereas a paper debunking it was published 5 months after the preprint was posted.[5] She detailed her views publicly in long detailed Twitter postings called "tweetorials"[2][3] and wrote opinion pieces on the subject with science journalist Matt Ridley in the Wall Street Journal and in The Daily Telegraph.[6][7] Chan later signed open letters together with other scientists published in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, calling for full and unrestricted international forensic investigations into all possible origins of the virus.[8][9] She was one of 18 scientists who signed a letter in Science Magazine calling again for a credible investigation into the origins of the virus.[10] The letter called for a "proper investigation" into "both natural and laboratory spillovers" and was widely covered in the press and brought the debate on the possible lab origins of the virus into the mainstream.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

Chan and Ridley authored a book entitled Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, published by HarperCollins in November 2021.[2][17][18] Chan has stated after the book was published she planned to change her name.[2]

Chan participated in a debate on COVID-19 origins organized by Science magazine, which included scientists Linfa Wang, Michael Worobey, and Jesse Bloom.[19][20][21]

References
  1. Rabin, Roni Caryn (24 August 2021). "Caught in the Crossfire over Covid's Origins". The New York Times.
  2. Regalado, Antonio (25 June 2021). "They called it a conspiracy theory. But Alina Chan tweeted life into the idea that the virus came from a lab". MIT Technology Review.
  3. Jacobsen, Rowan (9 September 2020). "Could COVID-19 Have Escaped from a Lab?". Boston Magazine.
  4. Harris, Mary (13 April 2021). "A Different Theory of COVID-19's Origin". Slate Magazine.
  5. Holmes, Edward C.; Goldstein, Stephen A.; Rasmussen, Angela L.; Robertson, David L.; Crits-Christoph, Alexander; Wertheim, Joel O.; Anthony, Simon J.; Barclay, Wendy S.; Boni, Maciej F.; Doherty, Peter C.; Farrar, Jeremy (2021-09-16). "The origins of SARS-CoV-2: A critical review". Cell. 184 (19): 4848–4856. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.08.017. ISSN 1097-4172. PMC 8373617. PMID 34480864.
  6. Chan, Alina; Ridley, Matt (January 15, 2021). "The World Needs a Real Investigation Into the Origins of Covid-19". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  7. Ridley, Matt; Chan, Alina (February 6, 2021). "Did the Covid-19 virus really escape from a Wuhan lab?". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  8. https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/COVID%20OPEN%20LETTER%20FINAL%20030421%20(1).pdf
  9. https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/virus-inquiries-pandemic-origins/d7a097a4c758a65a/full.pdf
  10. Bloom, Jesse D.; Chan, Yujia Alina; Baric, Ralph S.; Bjorkman, Pamela J.; Cobey, Sarah; Deverman, Benjamin E.; Fisman, David N.; Gupta, Ravindra; Iwasaki, Akiko; Lipsitch, Marc; Medzhitov, Ruslan; Neher, Richard A.; Nielsen, Rasmus; Patterson, Nick; Stearns, Tim; Nimwegen, Erik van; Worobey, Michael; Relman, David A. (May 14, 2021). "Investigate the origins of COVID-19". Science. 372 (6543): 694. Bibcode:2021Sci...372..694B. doi:10.1126/science.abj0016. PMID 33986172. S2CID 234487267 – via science.sciencemag.org.
  11. Whipple, Tom (27 May 2021). "Could a lab leak really be to blame for Covid-19?". The Australian. Archived from the original on 2021-06-18.
  12. Palus, Shannon (May 29, 2021). "Just Because We're Talking About the Lab Leak Theory Doesn't Mean It's Come True". Slate Magazine.
  13. "Many Scientists Still Think The Coronavirus Came From Nature". NPR.org.
  14. "The science around the lab leak theory hasn't changed. But here's why some scientists have". NBC News.
  15. Barnes, Adam (June 17, 2021). "Harvard scientist says Trump hatred motivated experts who denied Wuhan lab leak theory". The Hill.
  16. "How It Started, How It's Going". On the Media. WNYC Studios. May 21, 2021.
  17. Honigsbaum, Mark (2021-11-15). "Viral by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley review – was Covid-19 really made in China?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  18. Hiltzik, Michael (2021-11-15). "These authors wanted to push the COVID-19 lab-leak theory. Instead they exposed its weaknesses". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  19. "'Lab-leak' and natural origin proponents face off—civilly—in forum on pandemic origins". www.science.org.
  20. Karel, Daniel (9 October 2021). ""Lab leak" or natural spillover? Leading scientists debate COVID-19 origins". Salon. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  21. Nast, Condé (12 October 2021). "The Mysterious Case of the COVID-19 Lab-Leak Theory". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
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