China's 'Batwoman' researcher continues to carry out hazardous coronavirus experiments despite concerns over lab leaks.

2025-04-01 17:03:45

Chinese researcher Shi Zhengli, aged 60, remains actively engaged in studying bat coronaviruses in Wuhan. Leading virologists warn that her research could have a 'potentially catastrophic' effect as we approach five years since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli has allegedly earned the nickname 'batwoman' (file).

A Chinese scientist is still conducting "potentially catastrophic" research into coronaviruses five years on from the start of the Covid pandemic which claimed millions of lives worldwide, according to experts.

Shi Zhengli, 60, is one of the world's leading scientists working on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan. She has reportedly earned herself the nickname "Batwoman" as a result. She was thrown into the spotlight in late 2019 when a new form of coronavirus emerged in the region, with some scientists questioning whether Covid-19 leaked from a lab.

In December, a two-year congressional investigation into the pandemic concluded the "weight of the evidence" suggests a lab leak was responsible. US lawmakers said in the report: "More and more senior intelligence officials, politicians, science editors, and scientists increasingly have endorsed the hypothesis that Covid-19 emerged as the result of a laboratory or research related accident."