Prestigious research completely rejects the conspiracy theory that Covid-19 is a 'born from the laboratory' biological weapon.

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain causing the Covid-19 pandemic spread in the United States in recent days, a conspiracy theory surfaced on the internet claiming that the corona virus was designed in the laboratory as something. biological assault weapons into the United States.

But a new study published in the science journal Nature Medicine has become evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is naturally derived. The new corona virus "is not a laboratory structure, or a virus that is intentionally manipulated ," the researchers wrote. " We don't believe there is a reasonable scenario [saying this virus was created] from a lab."

" There's a lot of speculation and conspiracy theories about the corona virus that has reached a fairly high level , " said Dr. Robert Garry, a professor at Tulane Medical University. " So we felt there was an important task to do, to gather a team of scientists, together, to test the evidence for this new strain of corona virus, to determine what we are. may know about its origin ".

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health, wrote in his blog: " This research leaves a very narrow door for those who want to refute the natural origin of Covid-19."

The researchers concluded that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not a human creation, because it does not share any "virus backbones that have ever been used". Instead, it is likely to arise from the recombination of one virus strain found on bats and another, possibly derived from pangolin.

The researchers said that SARS-CoV-2 virus is 96% similar to the corona virus that infects the bat. But the variation in the remaining 4% could explain what made it so infectious.

" From research on other corona virus strains, we knew that this family of viruses is likely [variant], and then they have a higher disease potential , " Professor Garry said. " This is a good explanation of why this virus can spread and cause an epidemic today."

The study found that mutations that occur on the corona virus's surface protein may have caused a pandemic outbreak. These are spiny proteins that protrude outside the virus. SARS-CoV-2 used these protrusions to bind to the ACE2 receptor present on the surface of human lung cells.

Scientists hypothesize that the new corona virus has evolved from its original host, possibly a bat or a pangolin. It collects a number of natural mutations to hone the protein spikes that match our ACE2.

This hypothesis is similar to previous assumptions about the mutation and spread of other corona strains from animals to humans, including the SARS virus that jumped from civet to humans in 2002 and the MERS virus that jumped from camel to humans. 2015.

But in addition to this scenario, the scientists also set a second scenario showing that SARS-CoV-2 actually evolved from a corona strain that has infected humans for many years, even years. dozens of years ago.

This hypothesis is consistent with some corona virus strains that often cause common human colds and appear less dangerous.

" The second scenario is that the new corona virus has been transmitted from animals to humans before it could potentially infect us. After that, the results of evolutionary change gradually over many years or perhaps decades century has made the virus finally able to spread from person to person and cause serious illness, " Dr. Collins wrote.

But no matter what the scenario, the scientists claim it is a completely natural process.

"We don't know if those mutations were discovered recently or long ago," Professor Garry said. " It is impossible to say for sure that a single mutation has caused this pandemic, but whatever the truth is, it will be a natural process."

And while many believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated at a seafood market in Wuhan, China, Professor Garry said it was also a misconception.

In December 2019, Chinese scientists identified 27 of the country's first 41 Covid-19 infected patients who went to a seafood market in Wuhan called Huan Nam.

Cases represent 66% of infections. But, according to a study done at Wuhan Hospital, cases of the remaining 34% even appeared earlier, and were unrelated to this seafood market.

Instead, a study analyzing the genome sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus concluded that the virus had first appeared in patients in November 2019.

" Our analysis and other scientists point to an earlier origin of the virus, " said Professor Garry. "There have certainly been cases in the Wuhan Seafood Market, but that is not where the virus began to appear."