The genetic structure of SARS-CoV-2 does not rule out a laboratory origin. 2021-08-06. Jorma Jyrkkanen

The genetic structure of SARS-CoV-2 does not rule out a laboratory origin SARS-COV-2 chimeric structure and furin cleavage site might be the result of genetic manipulation Rossana Segreto, Yuri Deigin First published: 17 November 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202000240Citations: 10 No external funding was received for this work. Rossana Segreto and Yuri Deigin contributed equally to this study. SECTIONSPDFPDFTOOLS SHARE Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2′s origin is still controversial. Genomic analyses show SARS-CoV-2 likely to be chimeric, most of its sequence closest to bat CoV RaTG13, whereas its receptor binding domain (RBD) is almost identical to that of a pangolin CoV. Chimeric viruses can arise via natural recombination or human intervention. The furin cleavage site in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 confers to the virus the ability to cross species and tissue barriers, but was previously unseen in other SARS-like CoVs. Might genetic manipulations have been performed in order to evaluate pangolins as possible intermediate hosts for bat-derived CoVs that were originally unable to bind to human receptors? Both cleavage site and specific RBD could result from site-directed mutagenesis, a procedure that does not leave a trace. Considering the devastating impact of SARS-CoV-2 and importance of preventing future pandemics, researchers have a responsibility to carry out a thorough analysis of all possible SARS-CoV-2 origins.