Clarifying the origin and evolution of coronaviruses

2024/09/02 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Genetika
• Mikrobiologia

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 makes it a priority to clarify the origin and evolution of coronaviruses to prevent future pests. To this end, researchers from the Centre for Scientific Research of France (CNRS) have created a computational model to analyze different scenarios based on current genetic data.

This method concludes that coronaviruses originated in bats not long ago in East Asia and Europe. The bats then jumped to other mammals with considerable frequency and, above all, to humans and domestic animals. According to researchers, humans appear to be temporary hosts of coronavirus on their way from bats to other mammals.

These results have been considered very useful, as the next broadcasts are expected to be similar. Therefore, they suggest that the research contributes to the design of preventive strategies.