Tracing the origins of SARS-COV-2 in coronavirus phylogenies: a review
2021
Sallard, Erwan | Halloy, José | Casane, Didier | Decroly, Etienne | van Helden, Jacques | École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) | Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Energies de Demain (LIED (UMR_8236)) ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité) | Evolution, génomes, comportement et écologie (EGCE) ; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Architecture et fonction des macromolécules biologiques (AFMB) ; Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Theories and Approaches of Genomic Complexity (TAGC) ; Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) | ANR-11-INBS-0013,IFB (ex Renabi-IFB),Institut français de bioinformatique(2011)
International audience
Mostrar más [+] Menos [-]Inglés. Abstract SARS-CoV-2 is a new human coronavirus (CoV), which emerged in China in late 2019 and is responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic that caused more than 97 million infections and 2 million deaths in 12 months. Understanding the origin of this virus is an important issue, and it is necessary to determine the mechanisms of viral dissemination in order to contain future epidemics. Based on phylogenetic inferences, sequence analysis and structure–function relationships of coronavirus proteins, informed by the knowledge currently available on the virus, we discuss the different scenarios on the origin—natural or synthetic—of the virus. The data currently available are not sufficient to firmly assert whether SARS-CoV2 results from a zoonotic emergence or from an accidental escape of a laboratory strain. This question needs to be solved because it has important consequences on the risk/benefit balance of our interactions with ecosystems, on intensive breeding of wild and domestic animals, on some laboratory practices and on scientific policy and biosafety regulations. Regardless of COVID-19 origin, studying the evolution of the molecular mechanisms involved in the emergence of pandemic viruses is essential to develop therapeutic and vaccine strategies and to prevent future zoonoses. This article is a translation and update of a French article published in Médecine/Sciences, August/September 2020 ( 10.1051/medsci/2020123 ).
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