Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification as a Biological Robot

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has led to deaths worldwide and decimation of the global economy. Despite its tremendous impact, the origin of SARS-CoV-2 has remained mysterious and controversial. The natural origin theory, although widely accepted, lacks substantial support. The alternative theory that the virus may have come from a research laboratory is, however, censored on peer-reviewed scientific journals. Nonetheless, SARS-CoV-2 shows biological characteristics that are inconsistent with a naturally occurring, zoonotic virus. In this report, the authors describe the genomic, structural, medical, and literature evidence, which, when considered together, strongly contradicts the natural origin theory. The evidence shows that SARS-CoV2 should be a laboratory product created by using bat coronaviruses ZC45 and/or ZXC21 as a template and/or backbone. Building upon the evidence, the authors further postulate a synthetic route for SARS-CoV-2, demonstrating that the lab-creation of this coronavirus is convenient and can be accomplished in approximately six months.

Marburg Virus Persistence on Fruit as a Plausible Route of Bat to Primate Filovirus Transmission

Marburg virus (MARV), the causative agent of Marburg virus disease, emerges sporadically in sub-Saharan Africa and is often fatal in humas. The natural reservoir for this zoonotic virus is the frugivorous Egyptian rousette bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) that when infected, sheds virus in the highest amounts in oral secretions and urine. Being fruit bats, these animals forage nightly for ripened fruit throughout the year, including those types often preferred by humans. During feeding, they continually discard partially eaten fruit on the ground that could then be consumed by other Marburg virus susceptible animals or humans. In this study, using qRT-PCR and virus isolation, we tested fruit discarded by Egyptian rousette bats experimentally infected with a natural bat isolate of Marburg virus. We then separately tested viral persistence on fruit varieties commonly cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa using a recombinant Marburg virus expressing the fluorescent ZsGreen1. Marburg virus RNA was repeatedly detected on fruit in the food bowls of the infected bats and viable MARV was recovered from inoculated fruit for up to 6 h.

Personalized therapy: can it tame the COVID-19 monster?

SARS-CoV-2, a recently emerged zoonotic virus, has resulted in unstoppable high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. However, due to a limited knowledge of the dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, it has been observed that the current COVID-2019 therapy has led to some clinical repercussions. We discuss the adverse effects of drugs for COVID-2019 primarily based on some clinical trials. As therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of therapy may vary due to different, genetic determinants, sex, age and the ethnic background of test subjects, hence biomarker-based personalized therapy could be more appropriate. We will share our thoughts on the current landscape of personalized therapy as a roadmap to fight against SARS-CoV-2 or another emerging pathogen.

Development of a reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification assay for detection of Getah virus

GETV, an arbo-borne zoonotic virus of the genus Alphavirus, which causes diarrhea and reproduction disorders in swine, lead to serious economic losses to the swine industry in China. At present, the existing methods for GETV detection are time-consuming and low sensitivity, so, a rapid, accurate and sensitive GETV detection method is urgently needed. In this study, a fluorescent reverse transcription recombinase-assisted amplification method (RT-RAA) was successfully established for the rapid detection of GETV. The sensitivity of this method to GETV was 8 copies/reaction and 20 TCID50/reaction. No cross-reaction with other viruses. A total of 118 samples were prepared for GETV detection using fluorescent RT-RAA and SYBR Green I RT-qPCR, the coincidence rate of the two methods was 100%. The results suggest that the RT-RAA method is rapid, sensitive and specific for GETV detection and can be applied in the clinical.

Origin and Impact of COVID-19 on Socioeconomic Status

The coronavirus pandemic, known as COVID-19, is an evolving pandemic caused by a coronavirus, the SARS-CoV-2. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) notified this upsurge as an international emergency concerning public health. It was declared a pandemic later in March 2020. By May 12, 2021, 160,363,284 cases had been registered, and 3,332,762 deaths have been reported, caused by COVID-19, characterized as a horrific pandemic in the history of humankind. Scientists have reached a consensus about the origin of COVID-19, a zoonotic virus arising from bats or other animals in a natural habitat. The economic impact of this outbreak has left far-reaching repercussions on world business transactions, along with bond, commodity, and stock markets. One of the crucial incidents that popped up was the oil price war among OPEC countries. It caused plummeting oil prices and the collapse of stock markets globally in March 2020, as the OPEC agreement failed. However, COVID-19 plays a crucial role in the economic recession. The monetary deficit impact on the travel and trade industries is likely to be huge, in billions of pounds, increasing daily. Other sectors have also suffered significantly.

The TR locus annotation and characteristics of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

Rhinolophus ferrumequinumin vertebrate could be divided into αβ or γδ, which are encoded by TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci respectively. TCRs play a central role in mammal cellular immunity, which are functionally produced by rearrangement of V gene, D gene, J gene and C gene in the loci. Bat is the only mammal with flying ability, and is considered as the main host of zoonotic virus, which occupies an important position in the field of public health. At present, little is known about the composition of bat TRs gene. According to the whole genome sequencing results of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, and referring to the TR/IG annotation rules formulated by IMGT. We make a complete annotation on the TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. A total of 128 V segments, 3 D segments, 85 J segments and 6 C segments were annotated, in addition to compared with the known mammalian, the characteristics of the TRs locus and germline genes of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were analyzed.

Metagenomic analysis of fecal and tissue samples from 18 endemic bat species in Switzerland revealed a diverse virus composition including potentially zoonotic viruses

Many recent disease outbreaks in humans had a zoonotic virus etiology. Bats in particular have been recognized as reservoirs to a large variety of viruses with the potential to cross-species transmission. In order to assess the risk of bats in Switzerland for such transmissions, we determined the virome of tissue and fecal samples of 14 native and 4 migrating bat species. In total, sequences belonging to 39 different virus families, 16 of which are known to infect vertebrates, were detected. Contigs of coronaviruses, adenoviruses, hepeviruses, rotaviruses A and H, and parvoviruses with potential zoonotic risk were characterized in more detail. Most interestingly, in a ground stool sample of a Vespertilio murinus colony an almost complete genome of a Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was detected by Next generation sequencing and confirmed by PCR. In conclusion, bats in Switzerland naturally harbour many different viruses. Metagenomic analyses of non-invasive samples like ground stool may support effective surveillance and early detection of viral zoonoses.

The TR locus annotation and characteristics of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) in vertebrate could be divided into αβ or γδ, which are encoded by TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci respectively. TCRs play a central role in mammal cellular immunity, which are functionally produced by rearrangement of V gene, D gene, J gene and C gene in the loci. Bat is the only mammal with flying ability, and is considered as the main host of zoonotic virus, which occupies an important position in the field of public health. At present, little is known about the composition of bat TRs gene. According to the whole genome sequencing results of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, and referring to the TR/IG annotation rules formulated by IMGT. We make a complete annotation on the TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. A total of 128 V segments, 3 D segments, 85 J segments and 6 C segments were annotated, in addition to compared with the known mammalian, the characteristics of the TRs locus and germline genes of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were analyzed.

A Study on Novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19)

COVID-19 is a global pandemic and life threatening virus that mainly influences the respiratory tract of mammals, consisting humans being. It was 1st isolated in 1937 from an infectious bronchitis virus in birds. Many years ago, scientists have investigated that corona virus can infect mice, horses, dogs, pigs, rats, cats, cattle and turkeys. This zoonotic virus was first identified from Wuhan City, China and presently increasing very rapidly. The world has confirmed 141,057,106 cases, which includes 3,015,043 deaths and 793,484,083 vaccine doses administered as per the WHO till 20th April, 2021. Hence the aim of this paper is to provide a detailed review of COVID-19 including their history, origin, characteristics, symptoms and impacts along with preventive measures to be taken to restrict the outbreak of this evil virus of on human life.