--- title: "Scientists Slam Dubious Research Claiming COVID Is a Bioweapon" description: "Numerous experts are saying that a scientific paper claiming COVID is a bioweapon made elementary errors and relies on a shaky interpretation of evidence." date: "2020-09-16" modified: "2020-09-16" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-slam-research-covid-bioweapon" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid-19" - "health" - "politics" --- # Scientists Slam Dubious Research Claiming COVID Is a Bioweapon ![Numerous experts are saying that a scientific paper claiming COVID is a bioweapon made elementary errors and relies on a shaky interpretation of evidence.]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* Earlier this week, a[ *New York Post* headline]() trumpeted that a [new paper]() was "claiming COVID-19 was made" in a "Wuhan lab." The idea of a country releasing a genetically engineered bioweapon to create international havoc is a splashy claim — one you might expect from a salacious infectious disease thriller. But now, numerous experts are saying the paper's conclusions are dubious. In [an interview with the *Daily Beast*](), Columbia virologist Angela Rasmussen said the work was unconvincing, and made basic errors. "Basically, it's all circumstantial and some of it is entirely fictional," Rasmussen said. The *Daily Beast* also pointed to [a tweet]() by University of Washington biology researcher Carl Bergstrom, who called the research "bizarre and unfounded." Six experts in biology and infectious disease [piled on in interviews with *Newsweek*](), saying that the paper appeared to have cherry picked data — and even made basic errors — to bolster its claims. "This pre-print report cannot be given any credibility in its current form," said Andrew Preston, a microbiologist at the University of Bath, in the story. Experts who talked to the *Daily Beast* and *Newsweek* said that the paper appeared to misrepresent basic facts about genetics. For instance, McMaster University virologist Arinjay Banerjee told *Newsweek*, the paper points to "restriction sites" in the coronavirus' genetic code as evidence of genetic manipulation. But "all DNA sequences in nature have restriction sites," he told the magazine, adding that "it is not surprising that the SARS-CoV-2 genome also has restriction sites." "The report is not based on an objective interpretation of the SARS-CoV2 genome," Preston told *Newsweek* "The interpretations made are not supported by data, are unsubstantiated and the interpretations are largely stated but not explained. The report does not appear to start with an open hypothesis about the origin of SARS-CoV2." It's also worth pointing out that other researchers have examined whether COVID's genetic code might have been manipulated in some way, and [found no evidence that it had](). In another bad sign for the paper's credibility, the *Daily Beast* also reported that it was supported by two organizations linked to Steve Bannon, a former White House aide who was [arrested and charged with fraud]() last month for what authorities say was the misuse of donated funds. Interestingly, Bannon was arrested on a yacht owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui — who, the *Daily Beast* reports, also bankrolled the dubious research. ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()