The novel coronavirus wasn’t designed in a lab, so stop sharing conspiracy videos

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Some coronavirus conspiracy theories push the idea that China may have developed the COVID-19 virus in a lab, using existing studies about SARS and other coronaviruses as proof that humans can genetically engineer novel viruses.
Research does exist that proves coronavirus strains from bats could mutate to jump to humans. Still, a 2015 study explained the need to observe this family of viruses in the aftermath of the SERS and MERS epidemics to prevent other outbreaks.
A new study published a few weeks ago confirmed that the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus isn’t similar to anything else, completely eliminating the possibility that the virus might have been created in a lab.
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You should be more than familiar with all the measures you can take to reduce the risk of getting infected with the novel coronavirus. Wash your hands frequently with soap for at least 20 seconds, disinfect surfaces, avoid getting close to other people and self-isolate if possible. And you should of course wear a face mask of some sort when you have to go out to purchase food and essential supplies (here’s how to make your own face masks). Officials may have also warned you to avoid fake news about the coronavirus, but that’s now always easy. The transmission of viral COVID-19 fake news is another pandemic that we all have to face, and that’s what I’ve been doing lately in personal exchanges with friends and family. It’s really easy to dispose of most the coronavirus misinformation that circulates online, and you should do it to prevent your loved ones from believing information they get from shady sources. But what happens when someone sends you information that’s tough to dispute?

A few days ago, I received a video that I’d have normally dismissed immediately. It talked about how Chinese researchers were able to create a chimera virus back in 2015 that sounds a lot like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the novel COVID-19 illness. And it did not originate from a fringe website pushing conspiracy theories that would have you convinced the coronavirus is man-made. I immediately sent off the reply I already had on hand. As of mid-March, we know for a fact that SARS-CoV-2 wasn’t made in a lab. Scientists from around the world studied the genome of the new virus and concluded there’s no way the virus was man-made. The researchers found the virus jumped from animals to humans, although they were yet to understand where the key mutation happened, or the genetic change that allowed the virus to bind to a receptor in human cells.

But because the source of the clip was a reputable Italian TV station, I dug further, searching for the study that Italian story focused on. It turns out that study exists, but it hardly proves that people created the new coronavirus.

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The novel coronavirus wasn’t designed in a lab, so stop sharing conspiracy videos originally appeared on BGR.com on Mon, 20 Apr 2020 at 09:52:30 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.