Chinese scientists working at the lab some suspect may have started the Covid pandemic are planning new ‘ominous’ experiments, experts have warned.
Earlier this month researchers from the now famous Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) said they had found a new virus with striking similarities to Covid in bats.
Called HKU5-CoV-2 it already shows similar potential to infect human cells and is closely related to a known coronavirus that kills up to a third of people it infects.
Now independent experts say they are concerned that the WIV plans to conduct experiments on the new virus similar to those that may have sparked the Covid pandemic.
The first known Covid cases emerged just a few miles from the lab which was known to be collecting and experimenting with coronaviruses.
And in December a US select subcommittee concluded that the WIV was the ‘most likely’ source of the pathogen that sparked the global pandemic.
Dr Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is one of those concerned about the new experiments on HKU5-CoV-2.
Commenting on the study announcing its discovery she told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The paper ends on an ominous note – describing a set of future experiments similar to what might’ve led to the Covid-19 pandemic … they’re going to study the viruses’ ability to cause disease in humanised mice.’
Humanised mice are specially bred to have human cells or tissues to better simulate how a virus might infect and sicken people.
Dr Chan added that she was also concerned the WIV is not equipped to safely carry out this type of controversial research, especially in a city of over 8million people.
‘After what we experienced with Covid-19, I believe there is no biosafety level adequate for such experiments in the city of Wuhan,’ she said.
‘If such work has to be done, it should be done at a biosafety Level 4, far away from any city centre.’
The paper was written by virologist Shi Zhengli, also known as ‘Batwoman’ for her work on coronaviruses in the flying mammals.
Tests showed HKU5-CoV-2 infiltrated human cells in the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the technical name for the virus behind Covid.
It was also found to be a close relative of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
MERS is a contagious respiratory illness spread from animals to humans and from human to human. It causes fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhea and vomiting, and can be fatal in severe cases.
Sharing their discovery in the journal Cell, the Beijing-funded researchers admitted it posed a ‘high risk of spillover to humans, either through direct transmission or facilitated by intermediate hosts.’
Hinting at plans for further research they said: ‘Given their potential broad host range and relatively high human infection risks, the pathogenicity of BtHKU5-CoV-2 should be evaluated in animal models, such as hamsters and human ACE2 transgenic mice in future studies.’
British experts have said while HKU5-CoV-2 can theoretically infect people, currently this is based on lab tests on human cells, and we shouldn’t be too worried.
Prof Simon Clarke, an expert in cellular microbiology, from the University of Reading told The Sun: ‘The finding of another bat coronavirus that gains entry human and animal cells by unlocking them in the same way as Covid-19 is naturally of concern and will worry people, but it shouldn’t be all that surprising.’
‘This way of accessing cells is probably far more common than we realise, and the more scientists look for these things, the more examples they’re likely to find.’
Debate on if Covid emerged from within WIV or coincidentally emerged nearby is ongoing.
While some scientists continue to say Covid is likely to have a natural origin, jumping from an animal to a human, no natural host for the virus has ever been found.
The WIV was known to have collected hundreds of coronaviruses before the pandemic.
There have also been reports that three of its lab staff fell ill with a Covid-like illness in November 2019, a month before the first official cases were documented.
Covid-19
