Covid-19 vaccine: Will it alter or manipulate human DNA? Scientists say no

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Reuters file photo
Reuters file photo

Dubai - Social media is agog with the buzz that the vaccine will change an individual’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

By Joydeep Sen Gupta

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Published: Fri 4 Dec 2020, 5:36 PM

Last updated: Fri 4 Dec 2020, 6:05 PM

There have been swirling rumours and widely circulated coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine claims such as alleged plots to plant microchips into people to the supposed re-engineering of our genetic code.

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Social media is agog with the buzz that the vaccine will change an individual’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

However, scientists have categorically debunked the theory.


A section of the newly created vaccines, including the one, approved in the UK earlier this week and developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, use a fragment of the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease. This is called messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA).

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American business magnate, software developer, and philanthropist Bill Gates, who is the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, has been targeted on social media over claims that he plans to use a vaccine to “manipulate” or “alter” human DNA.

There is no vaccine “microchip” and there is no evidence to support claims that Gates is planning for this in the future.

Safety checks

A Covid-19 vaccine has to undergo rigorous safety checks before it can be recommended for widespread use.

For instance, in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials, vaccines are tested in small numbers of volunteers to check they are safe and to determine the right dose.

In Phase 3 trials, they are tested in thousands of people to see how effective they are.

The group, who received the vaccine, and a control group, who have received a placebo, are closely monitored for any side-effects.

There have also been claims that vaccines contain the lung tissue of an aborted foetus.

Covid-19 has claimed 1.5 million lives globally, according to the data available by Johns Hopkins University in the US.

Certain countries across the globe, including Saudi Arabia, Japan, France, Norway, India, Pakistan, and the US, have announced free Covid-19 vaccination for all citizens when the vaccine is available.

Cyber espionage bid

Meanwhile, IBM security researchers have detected a cyber espionage bid using targeted phishing emails to try to collect vital information on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) initiative for distributing Covid-19 vaccine to developing countries.

The researchers have not been able to figure out who purportedly conducted the campaign in September, or if it was successful.

The campaign’s targets, in countries including Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Taiwan, are linked to the development of the “cold chain” needed to ensure vaccines get nonstop sterile refrigeration in a bid to be effective for around three billion people who live where temperature-controlled storage is insufficient, IBM said.


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