[GlobalFrog]

I am always wondering why the animal market hypothesis is always criticized by saying the proofs are not convincing enough, whereas the lab hypothesis is favored by the same ones while there is zero proof. I am quite an atheist there, both are possible for me, but if i were to bet my money, the animal market is the option with some scientific research and not speculations.

[tim333]

There isn't really 100% proof either way so you are left looking at evidence and estimating probabilities. There is quite a lot of evidence suggesting a lab origin, for example sarbecoviruses have not been found in nature with a furin cleavage site and Ralph Baric proposed inserting one, which was put into a grant proposal by Daszak and low a year or so latter one pops up by the lab he worked with. I mean that never before seen thing could have evolved randomly at the market down the road by coincidence but it seems a low probability.