‘We made a mistake.’ Omicron origin study retracted after widespread criticism; Contamination led to conclusion that SARS-CoV-2 variant evolved slowly

[Emily]

https://www.science.org/content/art...in-study-retracted-after-widespread-criticism
‘We made a mistake.’ Omicron origin study retracted after widespread criticism
Contamination led to conclusion that SARS-CoV-2 variant evolved slowly in Africa, authors say

• 20 Dec 2022
• 1:25 PM
• By Kai Kupferschmidt

A paper published earlier this month by Science claiming the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 arose gradually, across a broad area of Africa, before it was detected was retracted today by its authors. In a retraction notice, all 87 researchers involved in the paper acknowledged that crucial genome sequences on which the study based its conclusions were a result of contamination. “We made a mistake and that is bitter,” says senior author Felix Drexler of Charité University Hospital in Berlin...