COVID-19 series #1- Is nCOV-19 a man made virus or a naturally evolved one ??

After receiving queries and being asked about my opinion on what is going on in the world and what is COVID-19, I did read papers on the previously known MERS. As the current nCOV-19 disease or COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, a virus that affects the respiratory system, questions whether the virus is man-made or naturally evolved are controversial.

Despite the tough times, we can try to stay positive mentally and learn about the virus, instead of being feared by it. So looking at the brighter side, I’m starting the COVID-19 series for all to stay in touch with the virus updates.

As new year calls for a new series of articles, here's a new article on coronavirus - symptoms, prevention, bursting myths & a few questions I've been receiving lately.

Coronavirus (nCoV or Covid-19) is a life threatening viral infection of a family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) originated in Wuhan, China is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

Out of all the papers I referred to for writing an article published in Nature Medicine, here is a gist of the points for you to answer the questions on origin of SARS-CoV-2.

THIS ARTICLE IS AN OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PAPER.

CREDITS : KRISTIAN G. et al; NATURE MEDICINE (2020)

Coronavirus - the novel virus that causes a viral infection which originated in Wuhan, China in 2019 is now widespread worldwide, infecting millions of people & already killing thousands. With several rumors about it being a genetically modified virus from a research laboratory in China, a recent research by scientists at University of Edinburgh explains the features of SARS-CoV-2 genome & discusses the scenarios by which they could have arisen. It also shows that SARS-CoV-2 may not be a laboratory construct or a deliberately manipulated virus.

Structure & biochemistry of SARS – CoV-2 : FROM ARTICLE BY NATURE MED

According to their comparative analyses, of notable features of alpha & beta coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 appears to be optimized for binding to human receptor ACE2; & it’s spike protein has a functional polybasic furin cleavage site at the S1–S2 boundary. The high-affinity binding of the receptor binding domain is mostly the result of natural selection on a human or human-like ACE2 that permits another optimal binding solution to arise.

Probability for debunking the rumor : FROM ARTICLE BY NATURE MED 2020

Since the current study in NATURE MED observed all notable SARS-CoV-2 features like the optimized RBD & polybasic cleavage site; in related coronaviruses that exist in nature, scientists of this study don't believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible. According to them, it is currently impossible to prove or disprove other theories of the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

Closing statement: BY RACHNA JADHAV

According to current research, which shows that SARS-CoV-2 is not a deliberately manipulated virus, it increases the probability of the virus evolving in a way that makes the virus stronger than the existing scientific techniques which can be a possible source of treatment.

To add a closing statement, despite the political controversies going on, as a person of science who prefers relying on evidences rather than going with the rumors, although I am unsure about the origin of virus; as much work is required to study the origin and crack the genetic code of the virus, somehow for now I believe that just like Newton's 3rd law of motion, there is a probability of nature evolving with such virulent viruses & resistant microbes like superbugs.

In the current Covid-19 situation, if humans stop the illegal trade of wild animals, nature will stop evolving against us & maybe 1 day, our human population won't face mass eradication due to viruses & microbes.

- Rachna Jadhav

@theresilientresearcher