BOOM

Trending Searches

    SUPPORT
    BOOM

    Trending News

      • Fact Check 
        • Fast Check
        • Politics
        • Business
        • Entertainment
        • Social
        • Sports
        • World
      • Law
      • Explainers
      • News 
        • All News
      • Decode 
        • Impact
        • Scamcheck
        • Life
        • Voices
      • Media Buddhi 
        • Digital Buddhi
        • Senior Citizens
        • Videos
      • Web Stories
      • BOOM Research
      • BOOM Labs
      • Deepfake Tracker
      • Videos 
        • Facts Neeti
      • Home-icon
        Home
      • About Us-icon
        About Us
      • Authors-icon
        Authors
      • Team-icon
        Team
      • Careers-icon
        Careers
      • Internship-icon
        Internship
      • Contact Us-icon
        Contact Us
      • Methodology-icon
        Methodology
      • Correction Policy-icon
        Correction Policy
      • Non-Partnership Policy-icon
        Non-Partnership Policy
      • Cookie Policy-icon
        Cookie Policy
      • Grievance Redressal-icon
        Grievance Redressal
      • Republishing Guidelines-icon
        Republishing Guidelines
      • Fact Check-icon
        Fact Check
        Fast Check
        Politics
        Business
        Entertainment
        Social
        Sports
        World
      • Law-icon
        Law
      • Explainers-icon
        Explainers
      • News-icon
        News
        All News
      • Decode-icon
        Decode
        Impact
        Scamcheck
        Life
        Voices
      • Media Buddhi-icon
        Media Buddhi
        Digital Buddhi
        Senior Citizens
        Videos
      • Web Stories-icon
        Web Stories
      • BOOM Research-icon
        BOOM Research
      • BOOM Labs-icon
        BOOM Labs
      • Deepfake Tracker-icon
        Deepfake Tracker
      • Videos-icon
        Videos
        Facts Neeti
      Trending Tags
      TRENDING
      • #Operation Sindoor
      • #Pahalgam Terror Attack
      • #Narendra Modi
      • #Rahul Gandhi
      • #Waqf Amendment Bill
      • #Arvind Kejriwal
      • #Deepfake
      • #Artificial Intelligence
      • Home
      • Fact Check
      • False: Harvard Professor Arrested...
      Fact Check

      False: Harvard Professor Arrested For Manufacturing Novel Coronavirus

      A true account of the arrest of a biochemist and nano-scientist at Harvard has gone viral with fake claims.

      By - Archis Chowdhury |
      Published -  8 April 2020 6:48 PM IST
    • Boomlive
      Harvard Professor Arrested For Manufacturing Novel Coronavirus

      Social media has been rife with reports of the arrest of Dr. Charles Lieber of Harvard University by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). These posts claim that Lieber was arrested for manufacturing the novel coronavirus in collusion with China.

      These claims are highly misleading; while Dr. Lieber - a nanoscientist and biochemist - was indeed arrested by the US DOJ for allegedly making a false statement about his involvement with the Chinese government, and for alleged non-disclosure of Chinese funding, the entire fiasco has nothing to do with the novel coronavirus.

      Also Read: False: Chinese Intelligence Officer Reveals Coronavirus Is A Bioweapon

      BOOM received the following message on its helpline, along with a video, which seems to be a news report by ABC-affiliated virtual channel WCVB on Lieber's arrest:



      BOOM also found the video being shared on YouTube and Facebook, with captions claiming the Lieber was arrested for manufacturing the novel coronavirus. The YouTube video has been viewed more than 2.8 lakh times, at the time of writing this article.

      Archive Link

      Archive Link

      Fact Check

      BOOM looked for news reports by WCVB, and found that the video being shared is an authentic news report by the channel. However, upon watching the entire video, we found that although it does talk about Dr. Lieber's arrest for hiding his involvement with China, there was not a single mention of coronavirus in the entire report.

      The title and caption of the video also made no mention of the virus or a bioweapon.

      BOOM accessed the press statement by the US DOJ, which said that Lieber was charged "with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement". The arrest of two Chinese nationals - Yanqing Ye and Zaosong Zheng - for various counts, including visa fraud, conspiracy and for attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China, were also mentioned.

      Also Read: Marathi Newspaper Lokmat Falls For Fake COVID-19 Bioweapon Story

      "Unbeknownst to Harvard University beginning in 2011, Lieber became a "Strategic Scientist" at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China and was a contractual participant in China's Thousand Talents Plan from in or about 2012 to 2017," the statement said. It also mentioned that Lieber was paid $50,000 per month by WUT, along with a fund of $1.5 million to set up a research lab at Wuhan.

      While this may seem like the perfect conspiracy theory behind the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is causing the ongoing pandemic, the entire press statement makes no mention of the virus and the pandemic.

      The viral posts carried an authentic news report and added misleading captions to make it appear like Lieber was directly involved with the creation of the novel coronavirus.

      University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain told The Harvard Crimson, the university's daily student newspaper, that Harvard was launching an internal investigation into Lieber's case.

      Not A Bioweapon

      Recent studies on SARS-CoV-2 provides us enough evidence to debunk the claim that the virus was human-made. Peer-reviewed articles (Zhou et. al (2020); Andersen et. al (2020)) state two possible theories for the origins of the virus:

      1. The virus went through natural selection in an animal (currently the progenitor host is theorised to be a bat or a pangolin), before going through zoonotic transfer (transfer of pathogens between animals and humans), and jumping into a human host.
      2. The virus jumped into a human host from an animal, while going through re-assortment of its genetic make-up that could lead it to acquiring the properties to start a pandemic.

      There is absolutely no evidence, despite thorough study of the virus, that it could have been artificially made by humans

      Tags

      Fake newsFact Check#Fact CheckCOVID-19#Coronavirus#Bioweapon#Biological warfareWuhanUnited StatesChina
      Read Full Article
      Claim :   Harvard's Dr. Charles Lieber arrested for manufacturing the novel coronavirus with China's funding.
      Claimed By :  Facebook, YouTube
      Fact Check :  Misleading
      Next Story
      Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
      Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker. Please reload after ad blocker is disabled.
      X

      Subscribe to BOOM Newsletters

      👉 No spam, no paywall — but verified insights.

      Please enter a Email Address
      Subscribe for free!

      Stay Ahead of Misinformation!

      Please enter a Email Address
      Subscribe Now🛡️ 100% Privacy Protected | No Spam, Just Facts
      By subscribing, you agree with the Terms & conditions and Privacy Policy connected to the offer

      Thank you for subscribing!

      You’re now part of the BOOM community.

      Or, Subscribe to receive latest news via email
      Subscribed Successfully...
      Copy HTMLHTML is copied!
      There's no data to copy!