The Wuhan Institute of Virology at the centre of the Covid-19 lab leak theory has been nominated for China's top science award for its work during the pandemic.
The laboratory was put forward for the Chinese Academy of Sciences' 2021 Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize.
The country's 'bat woman' scientist, Shi Zhengli, who leads research into the animal at the lab, also received a special mention from the committee.
Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli, known as Bat Woman, is pictured in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The scientist has been nominated for a prize for her work on Covid-19
The laboratory was put forward for the Chinese Academy of Sciences' 2021 Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize
A description posted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences said, according to The Times: 'The research group collectively has completed the most comprehensive and systematic identification research on the aetiology of Covid-19, and the results of the project have laid an important foundation and technology platform for the follow-up research on the origin, epidemiology and pathogenic mechanism of the Covid-19 virus, as well as the research and development of drugs and vaccines.
'It provided key scientific and technological support for epidemic prevention and control.'
The nomination comes despite growing speculation that the virus did not occur naturally but escaped from the lab located just a few miles away from the Wuhan wet market where the outbreak was first identified.
Critics have lashed back against scientists who last year refused to entertain the idea which was dismissed as a conspiracy theory.
The nomination comes despite growing speculation that the virus did not occur naturally but escaped from the lab (pictured)
US infectious diseases boss Dr Anthony Fauci has faced calls to resign over the scandal after he last year dismissed the theory as nonsense but appeared to be considering it behind closed doors.
And scientists who put their names to a letter denouncing the 'lab leak' theory last year have since changed their minds and said a full inquiry is required.
President Joe Biden has ordered a full investigation into the origin of the pandemic virus and demanded scientists work out whether there is truth to the theory.
China has rejected the allegations, despite the US pushing them to carry out further probes, citing findings by the World Health Organisation that said it was 'extremely unlikely' the virus emerged from the lab.
Dr Shi gave a rare interview last week in which she backed her government, saying the accusations are 'filth' and claimed no one at the lab ever got sick.
The accepted wisdom has been that the virus emerged in a bat and then spread to people in the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan (pictured) in late 2019, but there is a growing counter-argument that the virus existed before this and could have been leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology nearby
'How on earth can I offer up evidence for something where there is no evidence?' She told The New York Times.
'I don't know how the world has come to this, constantly pouring filth on an innocent scientist,' Dr Shi added.
She said the theories were completely unsubstantiated and said it was untrue that three of her colleagues had fallen ill with Covid before the outbreak emerged.
'Bat woman' has been accused of conducting controversial 'gain of function' experiments which genetically modify viruses in order to better understand the risks they pose.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology employs nearly 300 people and is the home to only two Chinese labs given the top bio-safety clearance, Level 4. It is the only lab in China permitted to handle deadly viruses such as ebola, bird flu and HIV.
While China has tried to insist the virus originated elsewhere, academics, politicians and the media have begun to contemplate the possibility it escaped from the WIV - raising suspicions that Chinese officials simply hid evidence of the early spread
'The Wuhan Institute of Virology has not come across such cases,' she wrote. 'If possible, can you provide the names of the three to help us check?'
But China has blocked an independent probe of the lab and hasn't released any of the raw data from the facility, making it impossible to validate
