Bioinformatic analysis indicates that SARS-CoV-2 is unrelated to known artificial coronaviruses
Bioinformatic analysis indicates that SARS-CoV-2 is unrelated to known artificial coronaviruses
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DOI：
10.26355/eurrev_202004_21041
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发表时间：
2020-04-01
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Marceddu, G.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Dallavilla, T.;Bertelli, M.;Marceddu, G.
目的：SARS-CoV-2是目前冠状病毒大流行的原因，并对其可能的人工来源提出了一些建议。因此，我们将SARS-CoV-2与实验室制备的已知病毒和其他相关的自然株进行比较，以估计它们的遗传relatedity.MATERIALS和METHODS：BLAST和clustalW被用来识别和比对SARS-CoV-2与其他动物冠状病毒（人，蝙蝠，小鼠，穿山甲）和相关的人工构建体的病毒序列。结果：我们的研究支持了已知的人工冠状病毒，包括2015年合成的嵌合体SL-SHC 014-MA 15，与SARS-CoV-2差异太大，无法假设后者的人工起源。相反，我们的数据支持COVID-19病毒的自然起源，可能来源于蝙蝠，可能在传播给人类之前转移到穿山甲身上。结论：关于SARS-CoV-2人工起源的猜测很可能是没有根据的。相反，如果小心处理，工程生物体提供了一个独特的机会，以可控的方式研究生物系统。生物技术是推进医学研究的有力工具，不应因为非理性的恐惧而放弃。
OBJECTIVE: SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the present coronavirus pandemic and some suggestions were made about its possible artificial origin. We, therefore, compared SARS-CoV-2 with such known viruses that were prepared in the laboratory and other relevant natural strains to estimate their genetic relatedness.MATERIALS AND METHODS: BLAST and clustalW were used to identify and align viral sequences of SARS-CoV-2 to other animal coronaviruses (human, bat, mouse, pangolin) and related artificial constructs. Phylogenetics trees were then prepared using iTOL.RESULTS: Our study supports the notion that known artificial coronaviruses, including the chimeric SL-SHC014-MA15 synthesized in 2015, differ too much from SARS-CoV-2 to hypothesize an artificial origin of the latter. On the contrary, our data support the natural origin of the COVID-19 virus, likely derived from bats, possibly transferred to pangolins, before spreading to man.CONCLUSIONS: Speculations about the artificial origin of SARS-CoV-2 are most likely unfounded. On the contrary, when carefully handled, engineered organisms provide a unique opportunity to study biological systems in a controlled fashion. Biotechnology is a powerful tool to advance medical research and should not be abandoned because of irrational fears.