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Boston University has reacted to Daily Mail’s report about COVID-19 research which is being done at the school.
On Monday, Daily Mail reported that researchers at Boston University created a new and more deadly COVID-19 strain. They further cited a preprint research paper.
Reacting to this in a statement, BU said the report by Daily Mail is “false and inaccurate.”
According to them, the publication’s report was sensationalized and took data from research on mice out of context.
Leaders at the school’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories divulged that they have actually found the COVID-19 replicate to be less dangerous.
“We want to address the false and inaccurate reporting about Boston University COVID-19 research, which appeared today in the Daily Mail. 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 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,” the school said. “Whereas Omicron causes a very mild disease in these animals.”
The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories opened in 2009 and features studies on a range of infectious diseases and pathogens.
According to officials of the university, the study in question was conducted in the lab’s biosafety-level 3 facilities and inside a biosafety cabinet and inside a sealed room. They added that the research is intended to provide a public health benefit by helping to develop targeted interventions.
“The Boston University Institutional Biosafety committee, Boston Biosafety Committee and Boston Public Health Commission approved this research protocol in March 2020 after full review of the proposed research and under the condition that the lab follow all applicable safety controls, including CDC guidelines for handling COVID-19 and those imposed by the Boston Biological Laboratory Regulations,” a Boston Public Health Commission spokesperson said in a statement.
