Representational image
(A. Prathap/BCCL Chennai)
Scientists have found three viruses in bats from the Asian country of Laos, which are more similar to the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 than any other known virus.
The study, posted on the preprint server Research Square and not peer-reviewed yet, showed that the similarity of parts of the new viruses’ genetic code with SARS-CoV-2 reinforces claims that COVID-19 has a natural origin. At the same time, their discovery means there are numerous coronaviruses with the potential to infect people, Nature reported.
The finding is both “fascinating and quite terrifying”, David Robertson, a virologist at the University of Glasgow, was quoted as saying.
According to researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and the National University in Laos, the new-found viruses contain receptor-binding domains that are almost identical to that of…
