Early ‘lab-grown’ Covid virus found in sample lends weight to Wuhan theory
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An early version of Covid-19 that appears to have been grown in a laboratory has been discovered in samples from a Chinese biotechnology firm.
The finding lends weight to claims that the virus may have started life as a lab experiment that accidentally leaked out.
Bioinformatics experts from the University of Veterinary Medicine and Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, made the discovery by accident while examining genetic data from soil samples collected from Antarctica in late 2018 and early 2019.
The samples were sent to Sangon Biotech in Shanghai for sequencing in Dec 2019, where they became contaminated with a previously unknown variant of Covid-19.
The variant has mutations that bridge the gap between bat coronavirus and the earliest Wuhan strain, so it may be an ancestral version of the virus.
The samples also contain DNA from hamsters and monkeys, suggesting that the early virus may have been grown in animal cell lines.
Sangon Biotech is frequently used by Chinese scientists for sequencing, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which some experts think is the most likely location for a leak.
The exact date at which the DNA extraction took place is uncertain. However, researchers say that if it took place in December 2019, the virus could be the ancestor of the original human Wuhan strain.
If it was sequenced in early 2020, it may have been contaminated from experiments carried out by researchers trying to learn more about the emerging virus.
