My guess is no, based on this quote from the article: > "We were working with a protein that forms a multimeric particle resembling a virus but is completely s

My guess is no, based on this quote from the article: > "We were working with a protein that forms a multimeric particle resembling a virus but is completely safe, because it has no genetic material inside," said Pascal Fender, expert virologist at CNRS. "Completely by chance, we discovered that this particle was incredibly stable even after months, without refrigeration." It looks like the protein was chosen for its virus-like structure and/or its potential to be remodeled to mimic this specific virus (Chikungunya), and it only happened to be thermostable.