No, COVID-19 vaccines don’t contain luciferase

In early November, Newsmax reporter Emerald Robinson tweeted a false claim: that "the vaccines contain a bioluminescent marker called LUCIFERASE so that you can be tracked." 

Her account was subsequently suspended and Newsmax itself called the claim false. 

"We have seen no evidence to suggest luciferase or luciferin are present in any vaccines or that they are used as any sort of bioluminescent marker," said Elliot Jacobson, executive vice president and chief content officer for the network.  

But misinformation about luciferase has continued to spread online, including in a blog post by Robinson that some people are sharing. It was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Luciferase is an enzyme that interacts with a protein called luciferin to release light, according to the Food and Drug Administration. This bioluminescence is what fireflies use to attract potential mates. 

COVID-19 vaccine ingredients vary by manufacturer but none of the vaccines approved for use in the United States — from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson — contain luciferase. The ingredients for each vaccine are published on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ingredient list for Pfizer’s vaccine, for example, shows mRNA, lipids, salts and sugar.

In a Nov. 4 blog post, Robinson pointed to a page on Moderna’s website that shows patents "relevant to our mRNA-1273 vaccine against COVID-19." 

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Facebook posts

stated on January 22, 2020 in a Facebook post

Says a coronavirus patent expired just as there is a "sudden outbreak" and, despite "media fear-mongering," there is already a vaccine available.

One of the patents mentions "luciferase" four times. Moderna did not respond to PolitiFact’s emails about this patent but, as Health Feedback notes in its detailed analysis of Robinson’s blog post, the patent doesn’t mention COVID-19, the coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2 and is not evidence that Moderna or other COVID-19 vaccines contain luciferase. 

Luciferase was used in some COVID-19 research. In 2020, for example, scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston used it to "develop faster and more accurate diagnostic tests for COVID-19 as well as to analyze potential therapies and gain a clearer understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself." 

But it’s not in the vaccines. 

We rate that claim False.