[vadfa]

What if that new variant is also engineered?

[grlass]

most "artificial origin" hypotheses centre around a lab-leak.

The number of scenarios where the new variant is engineered are vastly reduced, since it's less likely that this variant is a lab leak.

Other scenarios can still be within the realm of plausibility, but there are fewer of them.

[technobabbler]

What if new variants inevitably emerge given global mutations and lackluster vaccinations?