Some on-line detection has unearthed 13 genetic sequences of SARS - CoV-2 , the computer virus that causes COVID-19 , that were detected in the very early days of the outbreak in Wuhan but have since mysteriously melt from databases . While many interrogative remain , the freshly recover sequences hold the potential to shed some light onto the initial spread of the virus in Wuhan back in tardy 2019 .
The non - peer - reviewed reputation by Dr Jesse Bloom , a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center , was recently posted on the pre - print serverbioRxiv . Some independent expertscommenting on the paperhave said it’s“intriguing ” while others say it border on " supposition and speculation . " Either way , most agree the work should be taken with a exigency of saltiness until further enquiry register how solid the findings really are .
Bloom is the first name to come out on the much - discussedopen letter in Scienceon the investigations of COVID-19 . The letter essentially called for scientists to keep an open mind on the viruses ’ origins , noting “ theory of inadvertent release from a science lab and zoonotic spillover both persist feasible , ” which has since helped to bolster up therecent renewed interestinthe “ COVID lab making water hypothesis . ” Bloom ’s novel report does n’t add together anything to this debate , but it may indicate there may be more raw information on the early outbreak than antecedently believe .
Bloom ’s investigation started after he notice some SARS - CoV-2 sequences from early in the Wuhan epidemic had been delete from the National Institutes of Health database . The chronological succession were reportedly collected by scientists at Wuhan University before March 30 2020 and uploaded onto the on-line database . However , according to the theme , he occur across grounds that sealed entry had been withdraw around June 2020 .
Through further digging around on-line databases and scientific lit , Bloom even managed to find another studyposted onlinein March 2020 by scientist at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University that seem to contain some entropy from the pretermit database in the supplementary fabric . This , however , only contain data of specific mutations in the viruses , not the full sequence information . Together with these clue and further sleuthing around files left on Google Cloud , Bloom managed to recover 13 episode that were move out last summer .
So , what can we make of this ?
The go back genetic sequences were obtain early on in the irruption from Wuhan . However , they contain some mutation that separate them from previously know early sequences pile up from Wuhan ’s Huanan Seafood Market , once proposed as the original land site where the virus made a zoonotic jumping between an creature to humans . Instead , these newly recovered sequences are more alike to SARS - CoV-2’sbat coronavirus congenator .
This suggests the virus was distribute in Wuhan before it was identified at the market place . In other words , the Huanan Seafood Market isnot “ reason zero” . This is not exactly fresh information – many other researchers and theChinese wellness authoritieshave also suggested this in the past – but this raw write up indicates that more raw data about the initial outbreak of SARS - CoV-2 could be out there , which could potentially reveal the origins of the outbreak .
" This study does not put up any additional inviolable evidence favour either born zoonotic disease or science lab accident . Rather , it show that there are extra chronological succession from comparatively betimes in the outbreak that are still unknown , and in some pillowcase have variation that advise they are probably evolutionarily older than the computer virus from the Huanan Seafood Market , " Bloom sound out in an email toCNN .
As forwhythe episode were deleted , it remains unclear . In the paper , Bloom writes it “ seems in all likelihood the sequence were edit to becloud their existence . ” However , other scientists disapprove this idea and say the report “ veers into non - scientific area such as binding - ups ” when it discusses possible reasons for the deletions .
Commentingon the paper , Professor Andrew Preston , a Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at the University of Bath said : “ The language of the paper is strange , its hold back a significant degree of supposition and guess , cites blog Emily Post and appear to be pointing towards a careful cover - up by Formosan authorities of early sequence data from Wuhan . However , this is an entirely immanent assessment of the situation , which will be very difficult to confirm or confute . ”
