SARS-CoV-2's Genetic Structure Does Not Rule Out Laboratory Origin

A few months ago, Australian scientist Professor Nikolai Petrovsky said that his research showed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is perfectly adapted to human cells than to any other animals. This claim prompted many experts to question the real origin of the virus: is it man-made or a nuke of nature.

Although this claim was denied multiple times, particularly by the scientists in China where the first cases were reported, studies continued to trace the origins of COVID-19.

Now, new research published in Wiley Online Library on November 17 claims that the chimeric structure and furin cleavage site of SARS-CoV-2 might be the result of genetic manipulation. In other words, the genetic structure of the virus does not rule out that it is man-made or was made in the laboratory.

Laboratory origin is not a baseless conspiracy theory

According to the researchers, the laboratory origin of SARS-CoV-2 "is not a baseless conspiracy theory that is to be condemned." They added that researchers have the responsibility to consider every possible origin of the SARS-CoV-2.

Analysis of the genomic structure of the virus showed that it is most likely to be chimeric. In other words, it is a combination of the bat's coronavirus RaTG13 that makes up the sequence, while its receptor binding domain (RBD) is almost similar to the coronavirus found in pangolins.

The researchers said that the insertion of the pangolin coronavirus RBD most likely obtained by cell or animal serial passage and the furin cleavage site could have come from site-directed mutagenesis experiments.

Moreover, a recent article published in Nature also said that the laboratory origin of SARs-CoV-2 should not be ruled out. It is possible that the scientists doing experiments on it could have been infected accidentally which then started spreading on humans.

They noted that genetic manipulation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus could have been done in any laboratory in the world that has access to the backbone sequence and necessary equipment to not leave a trace of the experiment.

"Modern technologies based on synthetic genetics platforms allow the reconstruction of viruses based on their genomic sequence, without the need of a natural isolate," the researchers wrote.

Thorough investigation badly needed

The researchers said that in order to solve the mystery of the origins of COVID-19, a thorough investigation of available genetic sequences and research data in all laboratories that have it is badly needed.

They noted that research records on the different strains of coronavirus that were generated in virology laboratories but were not published should be given special attention, possibly like those records in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) that were already deleted in their database.

But they also said that equal attention should be given to both natural and man-made origins as finding a possible natural cost could take years, like the SARS virus in 2003, and some even did not yield a successful result.