A new book by Dr. Quay
The Code as Witness
The genome tells a story. The question is whether we are willing to read it.
In a pandemic defined by uncertainty, Dr. Quay turns to the one witness that cannot be pressured, politicized, or silenced: the genetic code itself.
Praised by Nobel laureates, physicians, scientists, national security leaders, and public health officials.
The evidence was always in the code.
The Code as Witness is a scientific investigation into the origins of COVID-19, written for readers who want clarity without oversimplification. Dr. Quay follows the molecular clues, examines what they reveal, and asks what must change before the next outbreak.
I — The Genome
A Close Reading
A careful examination of the molecular evidence embedded in the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence.
II — The Investigation
What the Clues Reveal
A clear account of what the evidence suggests and why it matters beyond the politics of the moment.
III — The Warning
Safeguards for the Future
A call for controls around the research programs that could shape the next pandemic.
Expert Praise for
The Code as Witness
Scientists, physicians, public health leaders, national security experts, and writers have called Dr. Quay's investigation urgent, rigorous, courageous, and essential.
"Thrilling to read… systematic, thorough, and detailed."
Dr. Louis J. Ignarro, PhD Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1998
"A wonderful affirmation of science, and a medical detective story."
Roger D. Kornberg, PhD Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2006
"A masterclass in scientific sleuthing and moral clarity."
Miles Yu, PhD United States Naval Academy
"A thrilling piece of scientific detective work."
Nicholas Wade Former Science Editor, The New York Times
"This is the book to read if you want to know what really happened."
Richard Muller, PhD Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley
"A practical policy prescription to prevent the next one."
Robert Kadlec, MD Former Assistant Secretary, HHS Preparedness and Response
"A courageous and essential read."
Miles Yu, PhD Professor of History
"A must read for all."
VADM Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS 17th Surgeon General of the United States
"A must read."
Rand Paul, MD U.S. Senator
Read the Full Praise
Nobel Laureates and Scientists
Dr. Louis J. Ignarro, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Pharmacology — UCLA School of Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1998
"The Code as Witness by Steven Quay is thrilling to read. Quay's systematic, thorough, and detailed investigation into exactly where and how the COVID-19 virus emerged leaves no reasonable doubt that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was a benign bat virus that was manipulated in a laboratory to make it more virulent. Most importantly, Quay points out that any gain-of-function research on deadly viruses must be highly regulated and controlled to prevent the outbreak of catastrophes like COVID-19. I agree 100%."
Roger D. Kornberg, PhD
Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor of Medicine — Stanford School of Medicine
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2006
"This book provides a definitive answer to the longstanding question of the origin of SARS-CoV-2. But it is more than that, a wonderful affirmation of science, and a medical detective story, exceptionally well written for a general audience, in the tradition of Microbe Hunters and other great books."
Richard Muller, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Physics — University of California at Berkeley
"Steven Quay is the scientific expert on the origins of Covid. Not only is his analysis careful and precise, but he has made some remarkable discoveries, solidly based in science, that everyone else had missed. This is the book to read if you want to know what really happened."
Stephen Higgs, PhD, FRES, FASTMH
Past President — American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
"A well-researched and compelling analysis that evaluates the potential origins of the virus responsible for the global Covid-19 pandemic, written by a highly accomplished physician-scientist author that has provided testimony as an expert witness to the United States Senate and Congress. Essential reading for anyone interested in why and how the pandemic may have started."
Richard High Ebright, PhD
Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology — Rutgers University
Laboratory Director, Waksman Institute of Microbiology
"Excellent and accessible summary of the facts surrounding the most consequential human-caused disaster since World War II and most consequential scientific failure in history. Essential reading for any scientist, science administrator, science journalist, or science historian. Recommended reading for any member of the public or maker of policy who wishes to understand why 20 million died, and $25 trillion was lost in a predictable and preventable lab-generated pandemic or who wishes to understand how to prevent a next lab-generated pandemic."
Gilles Demaneuf
Engineer and Data Scientist — Co-founder of DRASTIC, Member of the Paris Group
"Dr Quay provides a good review of the circumstantial evidence, biological and epidemiological clues, and preponderance of risk factors that have quasi-exclusively piled up on the side of a research-related accident, despite the politically motivated narrative to the contrary. This book blows that into pieces."
Public Health and Medical Leaders
Rand Paul, MD
U.S. Senator, Republican of Kentucky — Chair, Homeland Security Committee
"From the outset of the pandemic, Dr. Quay knew something was amiss. When the COVID-19 genome was released, he suspected the virus had been tampered with in a lab in Wuhan. I respected his analysis such that I invited him to testify before the Senate concerning the lab leak and how to make sure such a man-made catastrophe never happens again. Dr. Quay's new book takes you behind the scenes to discover how a man-made virus escaped the lab and killed millions of people across the globe. A must read."
Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD
20th Commissioner, FDA, 2006–09
12th Director, National Cancer Institute, 2002–06
"This is a sobering and scary read that deserves serious attention. Regardless of the verdict on the origin of COVID, we have struck a fragile detente with the microbes that surround us. Recognizing how fragile the balance is, research like that described here to gain the upper hand is fraught with risks of upsetting that balance with catastrophic consequences. Quay has done a service to sound the alarm and call for constraints and controls."
Robert Kadlec, MD
Former Assistant Secretary, HHS for Preparedness and Response
Co-Conceiver, Operation Warp Speed
"Steven Quay has given us two tremendous gifts with his book The Code as Witness. First, he provides an apolitical, scientifically rigorous examination of COVID's genetic origin that spawned a global pandemic. Second, he offers a practical policy prescription to prevent the next one."
VADM Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS
17th Surgeon General of the United States
"As the medical and intelligence worlds continue to debate the cause of the COVID pandemic, Dr Quay provides additional scientific analysis of his theory of causation. A must read for all!"
Roger Marshall, MD
U.S. Senator, Republican of Kansas
Member, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
"As the first to uncover genetic evidence proving SARS-CoV-2's lab origins, Dr. Steven Quay's expertise inspired me to sound the alarm, and The Code as Witness brilliantly exposes the virus's creation, spread, and cover-up, decisively debunking myths like the raccoon-dog theory. Importantly, he also provides a host of potential remedies to prevent the next pandemic, making the book a blueprint for policy makers and legislators."
Policy and National Security Leaders
Victor Davis Hanson, PhD
Martin and Ellie Anderson Senior Fellow, Classics and Military History
The Hoover Institution, Stanford University
"Dr. Steven Quay was among the very first scientists and doctors to sound boldly the alarm that China's Wuhan virology laboratory was the likely font of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this riveting account of the birth and spread of, and catastrophic damage from, the virus, he collects a vast array of genetic evidence, medical experience, and public policy expertise to explain in layman's terms what went terribly wrong both in China and in the reaction throughout the Western world. And most importantly, Quay demonstrates how and why we must protect ourselves from the next deadly global pandemic."
Miles Yu, PhD
Principal China Policy and Planning Advisor to Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Professor of History — Director, Center for Regional Studies, United States Naval Academy
"In The Code as Witness, Dr. Steven Quay delivers a masterclass in scientific sleuthing and moral clarity. With the precision of a molecular biologist and the urgency of a wartime reporter, he deciphers the genetic breadcrumbs left in the wake of a global crisis. This is not just a book, it's a forensic indictment wrapped in a page-turning narrative. Quay stands as a witness for the truth when it matters most. A courageous and essential read."
David Asher, PhD
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Chair, Task Force on Origins of COVID-19, Office of the Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, 2020
"Dr. Quay's book is a tour d'force explanation of the origins of COVID-19 and the dangerous and dubious science experiments that contributed to COVID's creation, accidental promulgation, and global coverup. It is a Frankenstein-like story of scientific hubris, arrogance, and malfeasance. Quay describes in great detail the perilous process of Chinese researchers and international partners used to create new and novel pathogens via a process he describes as “gain of opportunity.” In Wuhan, viruses that never could have been created in nature were synthetically developed in labs with dangerous dual use research programs, with secret Chinese Military Biological Warfare funding strategically and insanely aided and abetted by the US National Institutes of Health, DOD, and USAID in the name of “biodefense.” Quay concludes by calling for the cessation of funding for gain of function built virological agents, pathogens, and platforms and the creation of regulations, intelligence, and oversight to ensure that a man-made global pathogenic disaster never happens again."
John Walters
President and CEO — Hudson Institute
"Dr. Steven Quay fights for the integrity of science by following the evidence in The Code as Witness. It is a very important book and a great read. It deserves the widest possible attention, so more Americans understand the evidence for the lab origin of COVID-19, the man-made catastrophe. Most of all, Dr. Quay explains what we should do to prevent millions more from dying in a pandemic that can be released tomorrow or the day after."
Matt Pottinger
32nd U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor, 2019–21
Chairman, China Program, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
"Dr. Quay leads us, calmly, expertly, on a gripping tour of scientific discovery about the origins of a novel virus that has killed perhaps 30 million people worldwide since 2019. It is the duty of conscientious people to heed the implications and recommendations of this important book."
The Lord Borwick of Hawkshead
Member of the Science and Technology Select Committee
House of Lords, UK Parliament
"I eagerly look forward to studying Steven Quay's new book, The Code as Witness. I know that Steven has the scientific rigor worthy of this international conundrum, and the courage to corral the facts to their conclusion. Many, many great people had their lives shortened, but the task is clear, to make sure that particular series of events do not repeat again, and it is only science without short-term politics that can ensure that outcome."
James A. Kelly
Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs
"Dr Quay's new book is needed and timely. After years of confusing political and scientific claims and counter assertions, The Code as Witness focuses on the virus and its genome and the information conveyed. Beyond analysis, Dr Quay presents policies to help avoid possibly new and more deadly pandemics."
Authors, Journalists, and Researchers
Nicholas Wade
Former Science Editor — The New York Times
"The origin of the SARS-CoV2 virus is no longer a mystery. In the clearest and most comprehensive analysis so far, Dr. Steven Quay shows how the many different features of the virus's molecular anatomy and epidemiology have a single explanation, the escape of the virus from the lab in which it was concocted.
Quay's lucid descriptions make this discovery seem obvious and easy. In fact, it was the opposite. Two vigorous efforts to suppress the truth, by the Chinese government and by a coterie of Western scientists with a vested interest in manipulating viruses, deceived the public and governments for years into supposing the virus had a natural origin.
From the outset, a mere handful of independent scientists, Steven Quay prominent among them, were skeptical of the establishment view led by the senior NIH officials Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins and strove against heavy odds to make the truth emerge. Quay's new book, a thrilling piece of scientific detective work, makes clear that SARS-CoV2 and the Covid-19 pandemic were the dark fruit of a program of virus manipulation sponsored by the US and Chinese governments. A careful set of proposals lays out how to avoid repeating these catastrophic errors."
Matt Ridley
Author of Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19
"On his own time and at his own expense, Steven Quay has been a persistent and diligent investigator into the origin of the Covid pandemic. What he found out about the genes of the virus, the schemes of some scientists and the obfuscations of some politicians is a true-life horror story that will grip and shock the reader. This is a vital telling of the greatest scandal of our time."
Jamie Metzl, PhD, JD
Bestselling author of Hacking Darwin and Superconvergence
WHO Advisory Committee, Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing
"Steven Quay has been asking and seeking to answer essential questions about COVID-19 origins since the pandemic's earliest days. The Code as Witness outlines his important efforts, lays out the scientific case for a COVID-19 research-related origin in significant detail, and suggests a path toward building a safer future. It is a must-read book for anyone interested in understanding what went wrong and how we can and must do better in the future."
Deroy Murdock, MBA
Fox News Contributor — Emeritus Media Fellow, Hoover Institution
"I have known Steven Quay since soon after he began investigating COVID-19's origins. He is a thoughtful, methodical, and thorough scientist who pursues the truth with no political agenda guiding his deliberations. I can think of no one better qualified to locate the exact spot from which this deadly virus erupted and began its deadly march around the Earth."
Dr. Steven Carl Quay
Dr. Quay is a physician-scientist, inventor, author, and biotechnology entrepreneur. He founded Seattle-based Atossa Therapeutics and has trained or served at the University of Michigan, MIT, Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Stanford University School of Medicine. In The Code as Witness, he brings decades of medical research and public-policy experience to one of the defining scientific questions of our time.
-
01
Founder
Atossa Therapeutics, focused on breast cancer prevention and treatment. -
02
Inventor
91 U.S. patents across 22 fields of medicine. -
03
FDA-approved medicines
Seven pharmaceuticals used by patients worldwide. -
04
Policy experience
Testified before Congress and advised the U.S. State Department.
The Genomic Record
Read the book behind the investigation.
The Code as Witness is an urgent examination of what the COVID-19 genome reveals, and what those revelations demand from science, medicine, and public policy.
