11 Mar The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
Kristian G. Andersen, Andrew Rambaut, W. Ian Lipkin, Edward C. Holmes, Robert F. Garry
ABSTRACT
Since the first reports of novel pneumonia (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, there has been considerable discussion about the origin of the causative virus, SARS-CoV-23 (also referred to as HCoV-19). SARS-CoV-2 infections are already widespread as as of March 11, 2020, 121.564 cases have been confirmed in more than 110 countries, with 4.373 deaths.
SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh coronavirus known to infect humans; SARS-CoV, MERSCoV, and SARS-CoV-2 can cause severe disease, while HKU1, NL63, OC43, and 229E are associated with mild symptoms.
It is intended to review what can be deduced about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 through the comparison of genomic data analysis. It offers a perspective on the most notable features of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and discusses the scenarios through which it could have arisen.
Our analyzes clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not of laboratory design or virus manipulation purpose.