Since President Joe Biden took office, right-wing media has been a hotbed of disinformation regarding the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines, which have been proven safe and effective at minimizing the spread of the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans.
Far-right disinformation outlet Newsmax is no exception. Newsmax host Rob Schmitt suggested that vaccines go "against nature," for one example.
And on Monday night, the network's White House correspondent, conspiracy theorist Emerald Robinson, falsely claimed in a now-deleted tweet that the vaccines contain "LUCIFERASE," which she (also falsely) said was used for tracking individuals who've gotten the vaccine.
Robinson wrote:
"Dear Christians: the vaccines contain a bioluminescent marker called LUCIFERASE so that you can be tracked.
Read the last book of the New Testament to see how this ends."
Luciferase is a naturally occurring light-producing enzyme discovered by French pharmacologist Raphaël Dubois in the late 19th century. Though evangelicals like Robinson often associate the name "Lucifer" with Satan, luciferase is named for the Latin words "lux" or "luc-," meaning light and "fer," meaning bringer, so the name for the bioluminescent material translates to "bringer of light."
What's more, the vaccines do not contain luciferase, but the enzyme was used in the research period of some of the vaccines.
According to the Molecular Devices newsletter:
"The power of luciferase has been harnessed by scientists to devise reactions whose light output is used to monitor biological processes including gene expression, biomolecular binding, and cell viability."
People were stunned at the absurdity of her Tweet.
They also wondered why Newsmax, which was awarded a seat in the White House briefing room by Trump's administration, was still permitted a seat there.
Though Twitter apparently removed the tweet, Robinson has yet to correct it. Readers are advised not to hold their breath.
