Medical scientist opposes U.S. host Jon Stewart's backing for COVID-19 lab leak theory: media

People shop in Chinatown in San Francisco, California, the United States, May 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

"It causes a lot of damage because a number of scientists who work on coronaviruses including myself feel that we're under attack right now," said Dr. Peter Hotez.

LONDON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- A medical scientist has expressed objection to U.S. host Jon Stewart's comments alleging the novel coronavirus accidentally leaked from a lab, according to a report on British online newspaper The Independent.

"I will say this -- and I honestly mean this: I think we owe a great debt of gratitude to science," Stewart made the remarks on Stephen Colbert's Late Show on Wednesday. "Science has, in many ways, helped ease the suffering of this pandemic, which was more than likely caused by science."

Speaking to TMZ Live, Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, urged Stewart and others to be more prudent when discussing the potential origin of COVID-19, said the article published on Wednesday.

"They're putting the entertainment value of this above what's reality," Hotez noted. "It causes a lot of damage because a number of scientists who work on coronaviruses including myself feel that we're under attack right now."