French Nobel laureate claims coronavirus was made in Wuhan lab

French Nobel prize-winning scientist Luc Montagnier has claimed that the novel coronavirus originated from a Wuhan laboratory while attempting to manufacture a vaccine against HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). During an interview with a French news channel, the Nobel laureate who co-discovered HIV said that the presence of HIV elements in the genome of SARS-CoV-2 raises suspicion against a possible man-made virus.

Prof Montagnier said that the Wuhan city laboratory has expertise in this area since they have been working on the coronaviruses since the early 2000s. However, the claim received criticism from scientists and his colleagues and who asked people not to believe him.

"Just in case you don’t know. Dr Montagnier has been rolling downhill incredibly fast in the last few years. From baselessly defending homeopathy to becoming an antivaxxer. Whatever he says, just don’t believe him," tweeted Juan Carlos Gabaldon.

Read: Wuhan Institute Of Virology Breaks Silence Amid Global Clamour That Covid Originated There

Controversy of virus origin

The origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not known but preliminary studies suggested that the bats could be the source since the coronavirus present in bats has a genome that is 96 per cent identical to the novel coronavirus. It is believed that pangolin was the immediate host because the bat coronavirus cannot bind to receptors in human cells, however, there has not been any concrete evidence.

After reports of lab-originated virus gained momentum, the director of Wuhan Institute of Virology Yuan Zhiming denied the claims calling it “impossible”. In an interview with Chinese state media, Yuan said that none of his staff had been infected, and the "whole institute is carrying out research in different areas related to the coronavirus”.

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The United States has repeatedly accused China of hiding the facts regarding the novel coronavirus and hinting towards a possible origin from the Wuhan laboratory. During a White House press briefing on coronavirus, State Secretary Mike Pompeo had said that there is still time for clarity and transparency over COVID-19 as researchers are still working on the problem and they need accurate data to perform their analysis related to therapeutics and vaccine.

Read: Wuhan Virology Lab Chief Denies COVID-19 Originated From Institute, Says Virus 'cannot Be Man Made'

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(With agency inputs)