The Wuhan Institute of Virology was set up in 2018 when China saw a need to do research on deadly and highly transmittable pathogens following the country’s experience fighting the 2002-2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic. But during the current Covid-19 pandemic caused by another novel coronavirus, the institute has drawn global attention, with some claiming the lab may have been the source of the infection. The US has demanded access to the institute to investigate such…