[ad_1]
Claim: A Nobel Prize-winning scientist said the coronavirus “is not natural” and that “China made it.”
The Facebook posts shared on April 25 contained an alleged quote from Dr. Tasuku Honjo, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
In the quote, Honjo reasoned that if the virus were natural, “it would have spread in cold places, but it would have died in warm places.”
“I have done 40 years of research on animals and viruses. It is not natural. It is manufactured and the virus is completely artificial,” according to the quote attributed to Honjo.
Honjo also allegedly said that he had “worked for 4 years in the Wuhan laboratory in China” and believed that all the laboratory technicians “had died” because they could not be contacted “for the past 3 months.”
Honjo then said “with 100% confidence” that the virus “is not natural.”
“It did not come from bats. China manufactured it. If what I say today proves false now or even after my death, the government can withdraw my Nobel Prize. China is lying and this truth will one day be revealed to everyone,” he added. .
A Facebook post on April 27 that contains the claim and was flagged by Facebook’s claim verification panel has been shared nearly 500 times and received around 600 likes and 50 comments at the time of writing.
Rating: FALSE
The facts: The Nobel Prize did not say the quote attributed to him, and he denied it himself.
Honjo denied the appointment attributed to him in a statement published on April 27 through the website of the University of Kyoto, where he serves as deputy director-general and where he is a distinguished professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies.
“In the wake of the unprecedented pain, economic loss and global suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, I am deeply saddened that my name and that of Kyoto University have been used to spread false accusations and misinformation,” he said.
He then encouraged everyone to work together in the fight against COVID-19. “At this stage, when all our energies are needed to treat the sick, prevent further spread of sadness, and plan a new beginning, spreading unsubstantiated claims about the origins of the disease is dangerously distracting,” he added.
His statement was also reported by Asian Scientist Magazine on April 28.
Other fact-checking organizations like Vera Files in the Philippines, Alt News in India, and the International Business Times in Singapore also discredited this claim.
Honjo won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with American scientist James Allison “for his discovery of cancer therapy by inhibiting negative immune regulation.”
On the other hand, a different Nobel Prize winner, the French virologist Luc Montagnier, claimed that the coronavirus was “man-made.” Their claim has been denied by data verifiers like HealthFeedback.org. – Michael Bueza / Rappler.com
Please contact us at [email protected] to stay on top of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos on your network. Let’s combat disinformation, one Fact Check at a time.
[ad_2]
