Wuhan Institute of Virology

Chinese officials say they cannot support a second phase of a study into the origins of the pandemic, including new investigation into the theory that the virus might have leaked from a Chinese lab.

The statement by World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus undermines a WHO report that concluded that a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely.”

Numerous experts, including some with strong ties to WHO, say that political tensions between the U.S. and China make any U.N.-led investigation impossible.

Chinese scientists work for an authoritarian government where politics, not facts, always come first, and the risks range from loss of job, your kids’ career prospects, even prison.

In the wake of heated debate over the unproven lab leak theory, the world is calling on China to cooperate with investigations. But efforts to delve into this matter seem to be stalling.

President Biden has ordered intelligence agencies to determine where the coronavirus originated, but China is bucking demands to let investigators see more. Can this probe lead to anything positive?

With the focus shifting again to a Wuhan, China, lab, Dr. Céline Gounder, a COVID-19 adviser to the Biden transition team, says it's important to find the pandemic's origins to prevent the next one.