There has been much discussion among the scientific community regarding the origin of the coronavirus. And so far, no one has been able to give concrete evidence regarding its origin. However, when a Nobel prize winning scientist raises his voice – he gets attention!
French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier has sparked a fresh controversy by claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from a lab, and is the result of an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against the AIDS virus.
He was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the identification of AIDS virus, with his colleague professor Françoise Barre-Sinoussi.
In an interview given to French CNews channel professor Montagnier claimed the presence of elements of HIV in the genome of the coronavirus and even elements of the “germ of malaria” are highly suspect.
“The Wuhan city laboratory has specialized in these coronaviruses since the early 2000s. They have expertise in this area,” he was quoted as saying.
In an exclusive report, based on unnamed sources has claimed that though the virus is a naturally occurring strain among bats and not a bioweapon, but it was being studied in Wuhan laboratory
The initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, the news channel said, adding that the “patient zero” worked at the laboratory. The lab employee was accidentally infected before spreading the disease among the common people outside the lab in Wuhan city.
The French connection
French Government was quick to oppose the scientist’s claim. An official at President Emmanuel Macron’s office said on Friday there was no evidence so far of a link between the novel coronavirus and the work of the laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, rejecting a recent claim by Nobel-winning French scientist Luc Montagnier.
According to Nature.com, the Wuhan lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases.
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