China Manufactured Coronavirus, Nobel Winner Tasuku Honjo: Fact Check

Story:

Japanese Nobel winner Tasuku Honjo sensational comments – the deadly new Coronavirus, COVID-19 is Manufactured in China, originated in Wuhan lab.

Other Versions

Japanese Nobel Laureate Tasuku Honjo Says Coronavirus was Made in China

Japan’s professor of Physiology or Medicine, Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo, created a sensation in front of the media by saying that the Corona virus is not natural. If it is natural, it wouldn’t have adversely affected entire world like this. bcoz, as per nature, Temperature is different in different countries. if it is natural, it wud’ve adversely affected only those countries hvg same temperature as China.

Instead, it is spreading in a country like Switzerland in the same way it is spreading in the desert areas…

(Telugu)
కరోనావైరస్ను ల్యాబ్లోనే సృష్టించారు! జపాన్ నోబెల్ బహుమతి గ్రహీత డాక్టర్ తసుకు హోంజో

కరోనావైరస్ సహజమైనది కాదు. ఈ వైరస్ను చైనాయే సృష్టించి ప్రపంచం మీదకు వదిలిందని జపాన్ నోబెల్ బహుమతి గ్రహీత మెడిసిన్ ప్రొఫెసర్, ప్రొఫెసర్ డాక్టర్ తసుకు హోంజో పక్కా ఆధారాలతో చెప్పడం సంచలనం రేపింది.

“ఇది సహజంగా ఉంటే, ఇది మొత్తం ప్రపంచాన్ని ప్రతికూలంగా ప్రభావితం చేయలేదు. ఎందుకంటే, ప్రకృతి ప్రకారం, వివిధ దేశాలలో ఉష్ణోగ్రత భిన్నంగా ఉంటుంది. ఇది సహజంగా ఉంటే, ఇది చైనాతో సమానమైన ఉష్ణోగ్రత ఉన్న దేశాలను మాత్రమే ప్రతికూలంగా ప్రభావితం చేస్తుంది…

• 

(Hindi)
नोबेल पुरस्कार पाने वाले जापान के प्रोफेसर डॉक्टर श्री तोसुको होंजो ने आज मीडिया के सामने यह बोल कर सनसनी फैला दी कि कोरोना वायरस प्राकृतिक नहीं है यदि प्राकृतिक होता पूरी दुनिया में यह यूं तबाही नहीं मचाता क्योंकि विश्व के हर देश में अलग अलग टेंपरेचर होता है प्रकृति के अनुरूप है यदि यह कोरोनावायरस प्राकृतिक होता कोचीन जैसे अन्य देश जहां जैसा ही टेंपरेचर है या वातावरण है वहीं दबंग मचाता।..

Fact Check:

Various ‘sensational’ messages viral online claim Japanese Nobel Laureate Tasuku Honjo said Coronavirus, COVID-19 was Manufactured in China’s Wuhan lab. They say the deadly new strain of Coronavirus is not natural as it has adversely affected entire world irrespective of different temperatures. Although many people believed the claims, they are not true – the Nobel laureate did not say so.

About Tasuku Honjo

Tasuku Honjo did in fact win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2018 along with American immunologist James P. Allison. They discovered Cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation. Tasuku Honjo was born in Kyoto, Japan and he studied and worked in Japan and America. He has been a professor in Kyoto University since 1984. He became Deputy Director-General and Distinguished Professor of Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS) in 2017.

• 

The stories in circulation describe the Japanese Nobel Prize winner worked in Wuhan lab along with his team. However, in his credentials, there is no mention of his work history in Wuhan.

Tasuku Honjo Did Not Say China Manufactured Coronavirus

Although the story is popular on social media, there are no credible media outlets to authenticate Tasuku Honjo’s ‘sensational comments’. The deadly virus has indeed affected most countries around the world – not all. As a matter of fact, the Japanese professor did give an interview to Nikkei News in early April 2020. To clarify, he talked about Coronavirus pandemic and Japan handling the emergency. Tasuku Honjo said the illness originated in China, but the country will be the first to recover from it, too. In other words, he did not say China manufactured the Coronavirus, COVID-19. He also mentioned there’s a possibility of global order shift over the outbreak in terms of China’s prominence. So, someone used his reputation to fabricate the false story about the Coronavirus global pandemic.

On the other hand, another Nobel prize winning French scientist Luc Montagnier claimed the Coronavirus came from a lab and is the result of an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against AIDS virus. Luc Montagnier won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the identification of AIDS virus along with his colleague professor Franeoise Barre-Sinoussi. However, Luc Montagnier’s claims about Coronavirus received criticism from scientists, including his colleagues.

Update: 4th May 2020

On 27th April 2020, Kyoto University published a statement from the Professor Tasuku Honjo on COVID-19. In it, he expressed sadness for using his name to spread the false accusations and misinformation.

Hoax or Fact:

Hoax.