An article on research on the origin of the new coronavirus, co-written by scientists from many countries, was published this week in the American journal Cell.
The article in question is an important assessment of the research on the origin of the virus based on the available scientific evidence by professionals in the field.
Animal-to-human transmission most likely source
The article strongly refuted the "lab leak" theory advocated by some American politicians, noting that the most likely source of the new corona virus is animal-to-human transmission.
Edward Holmes of the Mary Bashir Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety at the University of Sydney, Stephen Goldstein of the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah in the USA, Angela Rasmussen of the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Organization of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and David of the University of Glasgow Virus Research Center More than 20 eminent scientists from around the world, including Robertson, are among the authors of this article. The preprint of the paper was published on the open scientific data platform Zenodo in early July.
In the article, it was stated that there is no epidemic caused by the leakage of a new virus species in human history, and there is no data showing that before the emergence of the new coronavirus epidemic, the Wuhan Institute of Virology or other laboratories are examining the new coronavirus or any virus sufficient to be the ancestor of the new coronavirus.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology does routine viral genome sequencing, but this operation does not require cell culture, and the risk is negligible. The fact that previously confirmed novel coronavirus isolates are unable to infect wild-type mice indicates that it is not possible to obtain the novel coronavirus through functional acquisition studies in the laboratory.
RaTG13, reported by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is known as the corona virus most similar to the new corona virus. Some had claimed that RaTG13 could be the source of the new corona virus.
According to the article, the Wuhan Institute of Virology never developed the RaTG13 corona virus and only combined the nucleotide sequence of RaTG13 with short sequencing fragments. If factors such as genetic recombination are taken into account, the other three bat corona viruses, RmYN02, RpYN06 and PrC31, may share a more recent common ancestor with the novel coronavirus, but none of these three viruses were collected by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and their gene sequencing has been improved since the outbreak of the epidemic. then completed.
The authors of the article also reviewed the evidence supporting the zoonotic origin and natural evolution of the novel coronavirus.
According to the article, which mentioned that most of the viruses that can infect humans are of zoonotic origin, such as human corona viruses, looking at the epidemiological history of the new corona virus, its emergence is similar to the previous coronavirus outbreak related to the animal market, caused by human exposure to viruses.
The new coronavirus has mutated frequently since its emergence, including the D614G mutation that occurred early in the pandemic and some mutations in the spike protein's receptor-binding domain.
These mutations occur after the spread of the virus in the human mass, which increases the adaptability of the virus. He also denied the claim that when this new coronavirus first appeared, the spike protein was optimized enough to adapt to its binding to the corresponding receptor on human cells.
The article concluded that at this time there was no evidence that the new coronavirus originated in the laboratory and that any early cases of COVID-19 were linked to Wuhan virus research.
If lessons are not learned, humanity will remain defenseless.
According to the article, it is unlikely that the virus originated in the laboratory, compared to the human-animal contact that often occurs in the wildlife trade.
Unless the zoonotic origin of the new coronavirus is fully studied through collaborative research, the world will again remain vulnerable and vulnerable to a future pandemic caused by the same human activities.
Source: China International Radio
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