The Economist 2019 - 2020 analiz

A new study suggests that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that emerged from China's Wuhan city is a product of natural evolution. The study was published in the journal -- Nature Medicine. The analysis of public genome sequence data from SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered.





"By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that SARS-CoV-2 originated through natural processes," said the lead researcher Kristian Andersen.

In addition to Andersen, authors on the paper, "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2," include Robert F. Garry of Tulane University, Edward Holmes, of the University of Sydney, Andrew Rambaut of University of Edinburgh and W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University.


The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was so effective at binding the human cells. In fact, the scientists concluded that it was the result of natural selection and not the product of genetic engineering.

This evidence for natural evolution was supported by data on SARS-CoV-2's backbone -- its overall molecular structure. If someone were seeking to engineer a new coronavirus as a pathogen, they would have constructed it from the backbone of a virus known to cause illness.

But the scientists found that the SARS-CoV-2 backbone differed substantially from those of already known coronaviruses and mostly resembled related viruses found in bats and pangolins.