Boston University is defending a study involving a lab-made hybrid COVID-19 strain amid national scrutiny and a federal probe.
Researchers at the university's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories created a hybrid variant that combined the omicron variant's spike protein with the original virus strain from Wuhan, China. The study was conducted in the lab's bio-safety level 3 facilities and was approved by the Institutional Biosafety Committee and the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston University said in a Oct. 17 statement cited by The Brink, the organization's research publication.
Compared to omicron, the hybrid virus had a higher mortality rate of 80 percent among lab mice. The Wuhan strain had a 100 percent mortality rate.
The research has not been peer-reviewed and was published Oct. 14 in the preprint server BioRxiv. Several media outlets covered the study, claiming researchers created a more dangerous strain of the virus.
"We want to address the false and inaccurate reporting," Boston University said. "First, this research is not gain-of-function research, meaning it did not amplify the [original] SARS-CoV-2 virus strain or make it more dangerous. In fact, this research made the virus replicate less dangerous."
"Consistent with studies published by others, this work shows that it is not the spike protein that drives Omicron pathogenicity, but instead other viral proteins," study author Mohsan Saeed, PhD, an investigator at the infectious diseases lab, told The Brink. "Determination of those proteins will lead to better diagnostics and disease management strategies."
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, told Becker's it "did not review nor issue rewards" for the research.
"NIH is examining the matter to determine whether the research conducted was subject to the NIH Grants Policy Statement or met the criteria for review," a spokesperson told Becker's.
Boston University said it "fulfilled all required regulatory obligations and protocols" for the research and "did not have an obligation to disclose" the study to the NIH.
Editor's note: This article was updated Oct. 19 at 5:00 p.m. CT.