Fact Check : Tasuku Honjo Bets Nobel Prize On China Creating COVID-19

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Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo allegedly bet his 2018 Nobel Prize that the COVID-19 coronavirus was created by China, based on his knowledge and research.

Find out what exactly he said, and if it’s true that the COVID-19 coronavirus was really created by China!

Updated @ 2020-05-11 : Added two new facts about the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine that Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo won.

Originally posted @ 2020-04-27

 

Claim : Tasuku Honjo Says COVID-19 Was Created By China!

Mir Monaz Haque, the Editor-In-Chief of Asia Today, posted this on 25 April 2020 :

Japan’s Nobel prize winning Professor of Medicine, Professor Dr Tasuku Honjo (Tasuku Honjo is a Japanese physician-scientist and immunologist. He shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology and is best known for his identification of programmed cell death protein)

Tasuku Honjo created a sensation today by saying that the Coronavirus is not natural.

“If it is natural, it wouldn’t have adversely affected the entire world like this. Because, as per nature, temperature is different in different countries. If it is natural, it would adversely affect only those countries having the same temperature as China. Instead, it is spreading in a country like Switzerland, in the same way it is spreading in the desert areas. Whereas if it were natural, it would have spread in cold places, but died in hot places.

I have done 40 years of research on animals and viruses. It is not natural. It is manufactured and the virus is completely artificial. I have worked for 4 years in the Wuhan laboratory in China. I am fully acquainted with all the staff of that laboratory. I have been phoning them all, after the Coronavirus surfaced. But all their phones are dead for the last 3 months. It is now understood that all these lab technicians have died.

Based on all my knowledge and research till date, I can say this with 100% confidence – That the Coronavirus is not natural. It did not come from bats. China manufactured it. If what I am saying today is proved false now or even after my death, the government can withdraw my Nobel Prize. China is lying and this truth will one day be revealed to everyone”.

 

Our Verdict : Complete Bullshit

This story is such complete bullshit and it is truly shocking that the Editor-In-Chief for Asia Today would post this without fact-checking. The fact of the matter is :

  • Professor Tasuku Honjo issued a statement refuting those claims.
  • Professor Tasuku Honjo does not work on viruses, and has never been to the Wuhan laboratory.
  • Genomic analysis have proven that SARS-CoV-2 is a natural virus that is very closely-related to bat coronaviruses.
  • The Nobel Prize was not awarded by any government, and cannot be withdrawn.

 

 

Tasuku Honjo Says COVID-19 Created By China : The Facts

For those who are thinking to themselves, “How do you know it’s fake? You were NOT there!“, here are the reasons why we know for sure…

Fact #1 : Viruses Can Spread In Cold + Warm Climates

While certain viruses spread better in warmer climates, other viruses spread better in colder climates.

The susceptibility of a virus to humidity and temperature depends on whether it has a lipid bilayer envelope or not.

The COVID-19 coronavirus is enveloped, and is thus more likely to spread better in cold, dry climates. But that doesn’t mean it cannot spread well in warm, humid climates.

Fact #2 : The COVID-19 Virus Is Natural, And Related To Bats

Genomic analysis have proven that the COVID-19 is natural, for these reasons :

  • an artificial virus would have to be created from existing viruses and their genetic data
  • the SARS-CoV-2 virus has components that have never been seen before
  • it is very similar to existing bat coronaviruses.

Fact #3 : Professor Honjo Does Not Work On Viruses

Tasuku Honjo is a professor of Immunology and Genomic Medicine. He has only worked on immunology, not virology.

His 2018 Nobel Prize, in particular, was for his work on stimulating the immune system to attack tumour cells in cancer.

Fact #4 : Professor Honjo Has Never Worked In The Wuhan Laboratory

Professor Tasuku Honjo has been working at the Kyoto University since 2005. He has never worked in Wuhan, much less the BSL-4 laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fact #5 : Tasuku Honjo Issued A Statement On This Claim

Professor Honjo issued this statement through one of his PhD students :

Prof. Honjo never gave any such statement. Each and every sentence of this post is completely false and has no connection with truth.

Prof. Honjo never worked in Wuhan laboratory. He never called there. He did not work on virus origin and functions and other related issues.

All the contents are just concocted and nothing else.

Fact #6 : Tasuku Honjo Said COVID-19 Originated In China

In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review on 10 April 2020, Professor Tasuku Honjo said that COVID-19 originated in China, but also that it will be the first country to recover from it.

However, he never said that it was manufactured or created by China. Originating in a country, is quite different from creating it.

Fact #6 : The Nobel Prize Is Not Awarded By Any Government

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is NOT awarded by any government. It has been awarded by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet since 1901.

Fact #7 : The Nobel Prize Cannot Be Revoked / Withdrawn

Under the Nobel Foundation statutes, the Nobel Prize may not be revoked or withdrawn after it is awarded.

 

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