evidence: The DFRLab analyzed the COVID-19 misinformation database compiled by Poynter’s CoronaVirusFacts Alliance and identified 96 debunks of the claim that COVID-19 vaccines alter human DNA. Many of these narratives gained credibility by falsely attributing the information to authoritative figures like Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former Moderna chief medical officer Tal Zaks. The false claims were then amplified by medical professionals who practice alternative medicine and demonstrate clear anti-vaccine sentiments. [...] The myth that COVID-19 vaccines could change a person’s DNA first appeared after Bill Gates published a video on April 30, 2020 detailing how COVID-19 mRNA vaccines work. At no point in the video does Gates suggest that the vaccines can alter DNA. Shortly after the video was published, Waking Times, a website that frequently publishes conspiracies and pseudoscience, released an article titled, "Bill Gates Explains That The COVID Vaccine Will Use Experimental Technology And Permanently Alter Your DNA." The article’s author, Alex Pietrowski, has a minimal web presence, as the DFRLab found few verifiably connected sources beyond Waking Times itself. [...] Despite numerous debunks, false narratives about COVID-19 vaccines altering DNA remained pervasive, as it kept reappearing in numerous countries over the course of the period analyzed by the DFRLab. In the below chart measuring the lifespan of the variations of the story, the spikes are most significant when it comes to conspiracies directly mentioning mRNA vaccines. This is due to active transnational amplification of the falsehood, which originated from authentic comments from Gates and Zaks that were later misconstrued to present the false allegation that they were "admitting" to mRNA vaccine technology altering human DNA.