Japanese Nobel laureate Honjo rebuts rumors on COVID-19 origins

TOKYO - Japanese Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo has refuted claims that China manufactured the novel coronavirus, saying those rumors are "dangerously distracting."

"I am greatly saddened that my name and that of Kyoto University have been used to spread false accusations and misinformation," the 78-year-old Japanese professor said in a statement released by Kyoto University on April 27.

Honjo, who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, said that "This is a time for all of us, especially those of us devoting our careers to the forefronts of scientific research, to work together to fight this common enemy."

"At this stage, when all of our energies are needed to treat the illness, prevent the further spread of sorrow, and plan for a new beginning, the broadcasting of unsubstantiated claims regarding the origins of the disease is dangerously distracting," said Honjo.