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Mystery deepens over animal source of coronavirus

Pangolins are a prime suspect, but a slew of genetic analyses has yet to find conclusive proof.
  1. David Cyranoski

    1. David Cyranoski reports for Nature from Shanghai, China.

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Scientists are racing to identify the source of the coronavirus that is causing havoc around the world. Three weeks ago, Chinese scientists suggested, on the basis of genetic analyses, that the scaly, ant-eating pangolin was the prime suspect. But scientists have now examined those data — along with three other pangolin coronavirus genome studies released last week — and say that although the animal is still a contender, the mystery is far from solved.

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Nature 579, 18-19 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00548-w

References

  1. Xiao, K. et al. Preprint on bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.17.951335 (2020).

  2. Lam, T. T.-Y. et al. Preprint on bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.13.945485 (2020).

  3. Liu, P. et al. Preprint on bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.18.954628 (2020).

  4. Zhang, T., Wu, Q. & Zhang, Z. Preprint on bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.19.950253 (2020).

  5. Zhou, P. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7 (2020).

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