l*******4
发帖数: 1 | 1 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2
Did pangolins spread the China coronavirus to people?
Genetic sequences of viruses isolated from the scaly animals are 99% similar
to that of the circulating virus — but the work is yet to be formally
published.
Researchers in Guangzhou, China, have suggested that pangolins — long-
snouted, ant-eating mammals often used in traditional Chinese medicine —
are the probable animal source of the coronavirus outbreak that has infected
more than 30,000 people and is wreaking havoc worldwide.
China virus: latest news on spreading infection
Scientists say that the suggestion, based on a genetic analysis, seems
plausible — but caution that the researchers’ work is yet to be published
in full. “This is an extremely interesting observation. Although we need to
see more details, it does make sense as there are now some other data
emerging that pangolins carry viruses that are closely related to 2019-nCoV,
” says Edward Holmes, an evolutionary virologist at the University of
Sydney, Australia.
The identity of the animal source of the coronavirus, named nCoV-2019, has
been one of the key questions that researchers have been racing to answer.
Coronaviruses are known to circulate in mammals and birds, and scientists
have already suggested that nCoV-2019 originally came from bats, a proposal
based on the similarity of its genetic sequence to those of other known
coronaviruses. But the virus was probably transmitted to humans by another
animal. The coronavirus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome, or
SARS, spread from bats to civet cats to humans.
Now, the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou says that two of
its researchers, Shen Yongyi and Xiao Lihua, have identified the pangolin as
the potential source of nCoV-2019 on the basis of a genetic comparison of
coronaviruses taken from the animals and from humans infected in the
outbreak and other findings. The sequences are 99% similar, the researchers
reported at press conference on 7 February.
A good candidate
Previously, researchers have noted that coronaviruses are a possible cause
of death in pangolins1, and that nCoV-2019 and coronaviruses from pangolins
use receptors with similar molecular structures to infect cells.
What you need to know about the novel coronavirus
Even before today’s announcement, pangolins were a good candidate for being
an intermediate species for the virus, so it’s very interesting that the
researchers have found such a close sequence, says David Robertson, a
computational virologist at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Pangolins are protected animals, but illegal trafficking is widespread, and
some species are critically endangered. They are sold, controversially, for
their meat and scales, and for use in traditional Chinese medicine, in which
parts of the animal are used to treat ailments such as skin diseases,
menstrual disorders and arthritis. Chinese law states that people selling
pangolins can be punished by 10 years or more in prison.
The coronavirus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, and is
thought to have leapt to humans at a seafood and wild-animal market, where
many of the first people to become infected worked. Pangolins were not
listed on an inventory of items sold at the market — although the
illegality of trading pangolins could explain this omission.
Last month, scientists in Beijing claimed that snakes were the source of
nCoV-2019, but that theory was dismissed by other researchers.
Shen and Xiao did not immediately respond to Nature’s requests for comment,
but Liu Yahong, president of the South China Agricultural University, told
the press conference that the results would be published soon to help
efforts to control the coronavirus.
Scientists hope that the paper will offer details including where the team
found the pangolins with the similar virus. Arinjay Banerjee, a coronavirus
researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, says that another
crucial detail is where in pangolins the researchers found the virus — for
example, whether it was isolated from blood samples or rectal swabs. This
will help to determine how it might have been passed to humans and how such
transmission could be prevented in the future.
“I can definitely believe it could be true,” says Kristian Andersen, an
immunologist and computational biologist at Scripps Research in La Jolla,
California. Andersen says he has compared publicly available sequences of
pangolin viruses and found that they are similar to that of nCoV-2019. “I
look forward to the published report and data.”
doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00364-2
References
1.
Liu, P., Chen, W. & Chen, J.-P. Viruses 11, 979 (2019). | f***y
发帖数: 4447 | | f**********u
发帖数: 348 | 3 50 cents 50 cents
: 阴谋论者中了一记右勾拳
【在 f***y 的大作中提到】
: 阴谋论者中了一记右勾拳
| f***y
发帖数: 4447 | 4 汉奸走狗
【在 f**********u 的大作中提到】
: 50 cents 50 cents
:
:
: 阴谋论者中了一记右勾拳
:
| h********7
发帖数: 1318 | 5
不是美国投毒？
【在 f***y 的大作中提到】
: 阴谋论者中了一记右勾拳
| l*******4
发帖数: 1 | 6 谁也没这么大胆子，中国是五常，还有3为一体核打击力量
【在 h********7 的大作中提到】
:
: 不是美国投毒？
| h********7
发帖数: 1318 | 7
五毛前几天不信,嚷嚷着呢，公安开始抓人了就消停了
【在 l*******4 的大作中提到】
: 谁也没这么大胆子，中国是五常，还有3为一体核打击力量
| d*******y
发帖数: 2710 | 8 老酱说：
nature都是傻逼！
科学研究要以大妓院，新糖轮为准！ | F**0
发帖数: 5004 | | d*******y
发帖数: 2710 | 10 已经做完了，而且在学术会议上公开了。
The sequences are 99% similar, the researchers reported at press conference
on 7 February.
is |
|
