COVID likely leaked from a Wuhan lab following Frankenstein-style experiments on humanised mice, a top scientist has warned.

Professor Colin Butler, who probed the origins of the virus for the UN, said the lab leak theory has been majorly downplayed despite a mountain of circumstantial evidence.

Many experts and intelligence officials suspect bungling scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology accidentally spread Covid during so-called "gain of function" experiments on bat coronaviruses.

Fresh intelligence from the US Department of Energy has also now concluded Covid most likely leaked from a lab in China.

In 2020, Prof Butler was asked by the UN to produce a report on the causes, consequences and implications of the pandemic.

The epidemiologist was initially sceptical of a lab leak – but he told The Sun Online he's now convinced it's the most likely explanation.

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He changed his mind after evidence emerged of controversial "gain of function" experiments at the Wuhan lab, shocking biosafety lapses, hidden data, and a "cover-up" of the possible origins from scientists and governments.

Prof Butler still accepts a "natural origin" is possible – but pointed out there is no sign of any evidence to back up the theory.

He said Covid was likely extracted from bat caves in China and then "trained" on humanised mice in risky experiments before it accidentally leaked.

"You can literally put a bit of human DNA into a laboratory animal – humanised mice," he told The Sun Online.

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"You can adapt the virus to a human in a laboratory. It's Frankensteinian to me, it's very dangerous. You can train the virus to infect humans.

"That's what people think possibly happened with Covid.

"If the Chinese were innocent, they could produce the database, all the lab records, and they've never done it.

"If there was nothing wrong, they could produce it. There's so many things the Chinese cover up. This is just one more."

The scientist said he believes "gain of function probably did play a part in Covid".

So-called "gain of function" research involves extracting viruses from animals to engineer in a lab to make them more transmissible and deadly to humans.

"I thought of that quite early on, but I put it to one side," Prof Butler explained.

"Virologists are looking into viruses to see what makes a disease go pandemic because they believe they can then develop a vaccine.

"But I think they're playing with fire because the very thing they try to stop, they could cause, and could have already happened in Wuhan."

And Prof Butler has warned it could happen again as "so many labs around the world are doing this work".

But he said souping up pandemic-potential pathogens should never even be "contemplated" – and the scientist first sounded the alarm about the risks in a paper published nine years ago.

Dozens of scientists have suggested Covid could have escaped from the Wuhan lab through an infected researcher, improper disposal of waste, or potential breaches in the security at the site.

I read that they were in their space suits for five or six hours, and they can't go to the toilet unless they've got a nappy on, they can't eat, they're going to get tired, that's not good practice

There was also an "intense" period of "unusual and unexplained activity" in Wuhan in the weeks leading up to the pandemic – raising suspicions about an outbreak and mass sterilisation at the lab.

The city's airport was locked down for days, there was a blackout period at the lab with no signs of mobile phone activity, and security was massively ramped up at the site.

And fresh intelligence prompted the US Energy Department to conclude an accidental lab leak in China most likely caused the pandemic, Wall Street Journal reports.

The department – which oversees a network of labs in the US working on biological research – made its judgement with “low confidence".

But China has refused to cooperate with a full-scale probe into the origins and experts said a cover-up is continuing today.

Prof Butler highlighted the shoddy biosafety at the Wuhan science hub as a potential clue of a lab leak.

Shocking leaked photos – which were deleted from website of the lab after the virus emerged – revealed a scandalous lack of safety.

One worker admitted being sprayed with bat blood or urine as images showed staff brazenly collecting samples with no face masks or protective suits.

Some scientists didn’t even wear gloves as they entered caves to collect faecal bat swab samples, beaming for the camera and oblivious to the dangers.

And a bombshell study found grotty sewage systems were potentially contaminating canals with toxic waste from the labs.

The biosecurity lapses have led some to question the official Chinese line that the disease was passed from animals to humans.

"I read that they were in their space suits for five or six hours, and they can't go to the toilet unless they've got a nappy on, they can't eat, they're going to get tired, that's not good practice," Prof Butler said.

"This is the background on what was making me worry about what was going on in China.

"About a year before the pandemic, there was an article saying safety standards weren't good – like an expression of genuine distress."

Prof Butler said he had "very few allies" when he first put forward the theory of a lab leak in late 2020.

And one of the reasons he changed his mind over the origins of the pandemic came down to Jeremy Farrar and Anthony Fauci "hiding their own doubts".

Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust, has adamantly supported a natural origin for Covid – even though emails showed he privately believed a lab leak was possible.

He even privately admitted research in Wuhan was like the "Wild West".

If the Chinese were innocent, they could produce the database, all the lab records, and they've never done it

But Farrar signed a letter in The Lancet in early 2020 which "strongly condemned conspiracy theories" surrounding Covid.

In later emerged that 26 of the 27 scientists who publicly trashed the lab leak theory had links to Wuhan researchers.

The revelation drew furious claims at the time of an "extreme cover-up".

Prof Butler believes Farrar was a "key figure" in "scandalous suppression of debate" on the lab leak theory.

"There's a lot of weight given to theory it came from the market, but those papers can be severely questioned," he said.

"It's as if people like Fauci and Farrar have told the academic journals, 'this is the truth and you must enforce it'.

"It's making it very hard to get a counter view. The journals have had some really biased articles."

From 2010 to 2013, Prof Butler co-edited the EcoHealth journal alongside Peter Daszak, the head of EcoHealth Alliance.

The firm has come under fire over the last three years over its work on coronaviruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

When he discovered gain of function research was being done by EcoHealth Alliance, Prof Butler said he was "dismayed" – but "not surprised".

EcoHealth Alliance scientists studied bat coronaviruses with researchers at the Wuhan lab for more than a decade, funded by grants from the US.

The firm has denied any wrongdoing over its experiments – and categorically denied any link to the origins of Covid.

Prof Butler said: "They sincerely thought what they were doing was good, it was their livelihood, and they underestimated the problems and it never occurred to them perhaps."

But the scientist blasted the "opacity" surrounding those suspected to be at the centre of the origins of Covid.

"Maybe they feel guilty, maybe they're going to be legally liable, and lose their careers and reputation," Prof Butler said.

"I suppose some of it is commercial confidence.

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"The other thing is the military side of it. We know this work has evolved from biological weapon laboratories, particularly in America."

Although the debate over the origins of Covid rages on, Prof Butler said it's clear that gain of function research has been a "dismal failure".

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