We absolutely can study viruses without gain of function research. It just takes longer.
No. You cannot reliably study what a virus is capable of without it. All you can do is hope it mutates in a certain way.
If you’re arguing that intelligence agencies are unreliable,
I’m not, I’m arguing that they disagree and the ones who say it is a lab leak say so with low confidence.
why are you linking to a report from an intelligence agency?
I’m not, I’m linking to a New York Times article (hence nytimes.com) about how they disagree and the ones who say it is a lab leak say so with low confidence.
This is something you would have known if you had read the article.