Michael Worobey is a Canadian evolutionary biologist, and a professor and department head of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. He has done important work in the study of the evolution of

HIV-1 The subtypes of HIV include two main subtypes, known as HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV type 2 (HIV-2). These subtypes have distinct genetic differences and are associated with different epidemiological patterns and clinical characteristics. HIV-1 e ...

, which demonstrated the extensive genetic diversity of the virus by 1960, refuting the contaminated polio vaccine theory as the origin of the AIDS pandemic. In May 2021, Worobey signed a letter, published in the journal ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

,'' calling for a thorough investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2, including the possibility of a lab leak. Then, after thoroughly analyzing the available data, Worobey concluded that the virus most likely originated with animals sold at the

Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market (), also known as the Huanan Seafood Market (''Huanan'' means 'South China') or simply the Wuhan Wet Market, was a live animal and fish market, seafood market in Jianghan District, Wuhan, the capital of ...

and subsequently jumped to humans.

Early life and education

Worobey grew up in

Salmon Arm Salmon Arm is a city in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia that has a population of 19,432 (2021). Salmon Arm was voted the best community in British Columbia in 2019. Salm ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

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. Worobey joined the evolutionary biology group in the zoology department at Oxford, where he worked with Eddie Holmes and

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

, who served as his thesis advisors. Worobey also worked with Bill Hamilton to research the origin of HIV/AIDS. In January 2000, as part of the HIV investigation, Worobey traveled with Hamilton to the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. 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. Worobey continued his graduate studies in zoology at Oxford and received his doctoral degree in 2001.

References

Canadian biologists University of Arizona faculty Canadian Rhodes Scholars Alumni of University College, Oxford Simon Fraser University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century births {{Canada-scientist-stub