My colleagues and I published the most detailed studies of the earliest events in the COVID-19 pandemic last month in the journal Science.

Together, these papers paint a coherent evidence-based picture of what took place in the city of Wuhan during the latter part of 2019.

The take-home message is that the COVID-19 pandemic probably did begin where the first cases were detected — at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

At the same time, this lays to rest the idea that the virus escaped from a laboratory.