Boston University did not create a new, more lethal strain of COVID-19 in its laboratory. At least that is what the University is saying after reports, such as this Fox News report which was spread widely, claimed that is exactly what researchers did at the school. Boston University is, in fact, studying the virus and it says it is doing so “to help fight against future pandemics.”
And it says, too, that it did combine the omicron variant’s spike protein with the original virus for testing on mice. And, at first glance, the tests do sound a bit ominous. Because, according to reports, when the researchers infected mice with the BA.1 omicron variant they mostly had mild cases and survived. But when they gave them the original COVID-19 virus with the new omicron spike protein 80-percent of the mice died.
But, the researchers claim, that 100-percent of the mice infected with that original COVID-19 strain died. So, no, they say, they did not create some new super strain. “First, this research is not gain-of-function research, meaning it did not amplify the Washington state SARS-COV-2 virus strain (original virus from 2020) or make it more dangerous,” Boston University said in a statement while calling the reports that suggested they did so “false and inaccurate.”