Michael Worobey

Last updated
Michael Worobey
Born
Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada [1]
Alma mater Simon Fraser University
University of Oxford
Awards Rhodes Scholarship
Scientific career
Institutions University of Arizona
Thesis The occurrence and impact of viral recombination [2]  (2001)
Doctoral advisors Eddie 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]

Early life and education

Worobey grew up in Salmon Arm, British Columbia and earned his bachelors in biological sciences from Simon Fraser University. During his university years, he worked summers as a firefighter with the B.C. Wildfire Service. Winning a Rhodes Scholarship, Worobey went to the University of Oxford in 1997. [1] [12] [13] Worobey joined the evolutionary biology group in the zoology department at Oxford, where he worked with Eddie Holmes and Paul Harvey, who served as his thesis advisors. [14] [2] Worobey also worked with Bill Hamilton to research the origin of HIV/AIDS. [12]

In January 2000, as part of the HIV investigation, Worobey traveled with Hamilton to the Democratic Republic of Congo. They collected samples of chimpanzee feces and urine for later analysis. Worobey injured his hand and developed a life-threatening infection while Hamilton contracted malaria. Worobey survived, but Hamilton died within weeks of their return to Oxford. [12] Worobey continued his graduate studies in zoology at Oxford and received his doctoral degree in 2001. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 "COVID-19: Internationally renowned virus specialist born in Quesnel provides hopeful news, warning - Today In BC". Today in BC. 19 April 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 "The occurrence and impact of viral recombination". Search Oxford Libraries Online. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  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.
  12. 1 2 3 Allen, Kate (29 April 2023). "He nearly died pursuing HIV's origins. Then this Canadian scientist set his sights on the COVID lab leak theory. Here's what he found". Toronto Star. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Dr. Michael Worobey, Department Head". University of Arizona Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  14. ↑ "Evolutionary Biology Group Members". Oxford evolutionary biology. 21 April 1999. Archived from the original on 21 Apr 1999.


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