Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo, a distinguished professor at Kyoto University, has issued a statement denying claims that he said the new coronavirus was artificially made in China.
The false information spread on the internet in such languages as English and Hindu using the name of Honjo, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2018. The misinformation included a claim that he previously worked at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, for four years.
In the statement released on his website, Honjo said, "I am greatly saddened that my name and that of Kyoto University have been used to spread false accusations and misinformation.
"The broadcasting of unsubstantiated claims regarding the origins of the disease is dangerously distracting," he added.
On his website, Honjo has posted proposals such as how to prevent the breakdown of medical systems amid the spread of the virus.
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