A report by British tabloid, Daily Mail, has claimed that Boston University researchers have developed a deadly new strain of Covid with 80% death rate at the University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL).
The report which says that the virus is a combination of omicron and the original virus in Wuhan, killed 80% of the mice infected with it, according to reports.
As per the reports of Fox News, they extracted the spike protein from omicron and attached it with the strain first detected at the onset of the pandemic that began in Wuhan, China. They then documented how the mice reacted to the hybrid strain. "In...mice, while Omicron causes mild, non-fatal infection, the Omicron S-carrying virus inflicts severe disease with a mortality rate of 80 percent," they wrote in a research paper.
Boston University responds to media reports about the research
In an official statement through its publication, 'The Brink', Boston University called the reporting, which was picked up by other outlets, including Fox News, “false and inaccurate,” and stated that this research made the virus less dangerous.
The University has maintained that the research was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and Boston Public Health Commission.
BU further stated that the researchers were more interested in comparing the artificial variant with the original virus strain, “simply because it wasn’t infecting the same cells as the initial strain.” The researchers were interested in understanding what part of the virus dictates how serious of a disease a person will get.
BU addresses the 80% death rate claim
Ronald Corley, the NIEDL director, further told the BU publication that the news reports took the line in question about 80% death rate out of context.
Daily Mail went on to make a series of claims, including that the study was “gain of function research,” implying that the researchers set out to make a more deadly virus, something that has been denied by the University as well.
“We want to address the false and inaccurate reporting about Boston University COVID-19 research, which appeared today in the Daily Mail,” said the BU statement. “First, this research is not gain-of-function research, meaning it did not amplify the Washington state SARS-CoV-2 virus strain or make it more dangerous. In fact, this research made the virus replicate less dangerous.”
The researchers have stated that media reports misrepresented the study and its goals. "The animal model that was used was a particular type of mouse that is highly susceptible, and 80 to 100 percent of the infected mice succumb to disease from the original strain, the so-called Washington strain,” said Corley, while adding that Omicron doesn't have the same effect on these animals.
