A widely circulated article falsely claims that a recent Japanese study found that all COVID-19 variants were engineered in a lab and intentionally leaked. The paper, which was uploaded to an online open repository, analyzes Omicron variants and concludes that they contain mutations that appear “highly unnatural.” The researchers believe this is evidence that Omicron and its subvariants originated in a lab.
False and misleading claims about COVID-19’s origins have circulated since the earliest days of the pandemic, and this article is no exception. Debunking messaging may explain that the study, which is not peer-reviewed, did not draw any conclusions about non-Omicron variants and does not claim that the variants were intentionally “artificially synthesized” and released, as the article states. Additionally, the researchers acknowledge that their conclusion is based on a “limited” and potentially “unreliable” dataset, and that further research is necessary. Many research institutions have closely monitored the evolution of all COVID-19 variants and found no evidence that they are unnatural.
