Michael Worobey

Michael Worobey
Born
Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada[2]
Alma materSimon Fraser University
University of Oxford
AwardsRhodes Scholarship
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Arizona
Thesis The occurrence and impact of viral recombination[1]  (2001)
Doctoral advisorsEddie Holmes
Paul Harvey

Michael Worobey is a Canadian evolutionary biologist, and a professor and department head of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona.[3][4][5] He has done important work in the study of the evolution of HIV-1, which demonstrated the extensive genetic diversity of the virus by 1960, fully refuting the contaminated polio vaccine theory as the origin of the AIDS pandemic.[6][7]

In May 2021, Worobey signed a letter, published in the journal Science, calling for a thorough investigation into the origin of COVID-19, including the possibility of a lab leak.[8] Then, after thoroughly analyzing the available data, Worobey concluded that the virus most likely originated with animals sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market and subsequently jumped to humans.[9][10][11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference thesis-listing was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference today-in-BC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Michael Worobey". Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. December 3, 2019.
  4. ^ "Clearest-ever study of HIV's North American origins exonerates Canada's 'patient zero'". The Toronto Star. 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  5. ^ Buyting, Sonya (March 26, 2021). "COVID 'fuse' may have been lit weeks or months before the 'bomb' in Wuhan market: researcher". Quirks & Quarks. CBC Radio.
  6. ^ Worobey, Michael; et al. (2004). "Contaminated polio vaccine theory refuted". Nature. 428: 820. doi:10.1038/428820a.
  7. ^ Worobey, Michael; et al. (2008). "Direct evidence of extensive diversity of HIV-1 in Kinshasa by 1960". Nature. 455(7213): 661–664. doi:10.1038/nature07390. PMC 3682493.
  8. ^ Bloom, Jesse D.; Chan, Yujia Alina; Baric, Ralph S.; Bjorkman, Pamela J.; Cobey, Sarah; Deverman, Benjamin E.; Fisman, David N.; Gupta, Ravindra; Iwasaki, Akiko; Lipsitch, Marc; Medzhitov, Ruslan; Neher, Richard A.; Nielsen, Rasmus; Patterson, Nick; Stearns, Tim; Nimwegen, Erik van; Worobey, Michael; Relman, David A. (May 14, 2021). "Investigate the origins of COVID-19". Science. 372 (6543): 694. Bibcode:2021Sci...372..694B. doi:10.1126/science.abj0016. PMC 9520851. PMID 33986172. S2CID 234487267.
  9. ^ Doucleff, Michaeleen (July 19, 2021). "New Data Leads To Rethinking (Once More) Where The Pandemic Actually Began". NPR.org.
  10. ^ "First Known Covid Case Was Vendor at Wuhan Market, Scientist Claims". The New York Times. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  11. ^ Michael Worobey (18 November 2021). "Dissecting the early COVID-19 cases in Wuhan". Science. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.ABM4454. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 34793199. Wikidata Q109657653.