Fisky, Harambe may be a very good statistician, but he is not a virologist, immunologist, or molecular biologist. It is certainly plausible that this strain was created via serial passage among mice in a lab setting. However, “serial passage” can also happen among immunocompromised humans who live in close proximity, so I wouldn’t be as quick as this article to dismiss just such an outcome, even if it wasn’t readily detected. It’s less likely with so many mutations in the RBD, but, since this strain “appeared” in so many locations all at once, namely southern parts of Africa as well as Europe, it is likely it was cultivated much sooner, likely in immunocompromised hosts. A vaccine would also expedite this genetic drift, especially in an HIV patient, for example.