Rumor declared the comic development of biochemists a threat to all living things
One of the most popular fakes related to the origin and spread of the coronavirus is the myth that it is associated with a bacterium with the beautiful name Cynthia. According to a study by social anthropologists from the Monitoring of Contemporary Folklore group of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and the Center for Interdisciplinary Human Potential Research, this myth is in second place among the myths about the origin and distribution, right after the myth that SARS-CoV-2 is a biological weapon. MK decided to find out what kind of bacteria it is and why people are so afraid of it.
According to anthropologists, this myth was born out of the old myth that the bacterium Cynthia was specially synthesized to cope with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It was these “out of control” microorganisms that allegedly led to the “blue plague” in the bay after the aftermath of the disaster in 2011. The bacterium was supposed to “devour” the oil and establish ecological well-being, but something went wrong: the spread of Cynthia got out of control, and she went for a walk on the sea-ocean. After Cynthia had eaten all the oil, she pounced on the living creatures in the ocean. For fish, for birds, for everything else. Allegedly, she ate her victim in a matter of hours, leaving no hope of salvation. But then it seemed to her not enough, and Cynthia began to attack the people who were swimming in the sea. Perhaps Cynthia would have devoured all the bathers, but the fantasy of the folk myth-makers went into a different direction.
A new myth suggests that a fish infected by Cynthia made it to a market in Wuhan. Where she entered into an extramarital affair with some of the local respiratory viruses and magically transformed into a coronavirus. In the Russian media space, this myth began to be replicated back in March 2020, this version was even seriously supported by some scientists.
However, the bacterium Cynthia itself (Mycoplasma laboratorium), which is a laboratory-derived strain of mycoplasma, does exist. It was developed by a team of scientists at the American Craig Venter Institute, which is headed by Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith. Some media reported that Cynthia was indeed launched into the ocean in 2011 to destroy oil spills, but the facts do not confirm this.
According to the popular science publication OYLA, the bacterium with an artificial genome, Mycoplasma laboratorium, was created by biochemists for the fun of … They simply changed some sequences in the genome of the natural bacterium Mycoplasma mycoides. And if some outside expert is engaged in decoding this genome, he will be able to read “congratulations for himself, a list of the authors of the project and a few citations from the literature.” But this is unlikely – the joke bacterium dies in its natural environment. Therefore, she certainly would not have made it to the market in Wuhan, and she would not have survived in the Gulf of Mexico.
By the way, the team of scientists of this institute showed for the first time the possibility of creating microorganisms with properties programmed at the genetic level. And today they are trying to develop various hybrid bacteria, yeast and algae that could synthesize biofuel.
The Russian scientists, whom the MK columnist approached for comment, mostly laughed in response. “Now many are engaged in verbiage, including those who are not related to science. I have never heard of such a bacterium. And, of course, it could not become the cause of a pandemic, ”a well-known virologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Lvov told MK.
Another famous scientist said that when he hears such theories, he can only swear, but he is a polite person, and therefore will keep silent.
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