China's 'Bat Woman' says coronavirus 'tip of the iceberg', calls for advanced study

A renowned Chinese virologist claimed that the novel coronavirus is just “the tip of the iceberg” and called for an advanced study of the unknown viruses. Speaking to Chinese state television, Shi Zhengli, the deputy director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, warned that if researchers don’t study the unknown viruses carried by wild animals in nature, there will possibly be another outbreak.

Shi, known for her work on coronavirus in bats, emphasised the need for scientists and governments to remain transparent and cooperative for advanced research into viruses. Popularly known as China’s “Bat Woman”, Shi said in a social media post that the ongoing pandemic has nothing to do with the laboratory, claiming that the genetic characteristics of the viruses she worked with did not match with the novel coronavirus. 

The origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not known but preliminary studies suggested that the bats could be the source since the coronavirus present in bats has a genome that is 96 per cent identical to the novel coronavirus. It is believed that the wildlife market in Wuhan caused the virus to transmit through another host, probably pangolin because the bat coronavirus cannot bind to receptors in human cells, however, there has not been any concrete evidence.

Read: Wuhan Conducted Over 11 Lakh Nucleic Acid Tests On May 23: Health Authorities

Controversy over virus' origin

However, the United States has been targeting China over the virus outbreak and has often hinted towards lab origin of the new coronavirus, especially after a French Nobel laureate claimed that it originated from a Wuhan laboratory in an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against HIV. The Nobel laureate who co-discovered HIV said that the presence of HIV elements in the genome of SARS-CoV-2 raises suspicion against a possible man-made virus.

After reports of lab-originated virus gained momentum, the director of Wuhan Institute of Virology Yuan Zhiming denied the claims calling it “impossible”. In an interview with Chinese state media, Yuan said that none of his staff had been infected, and the "whole institute is carrying out research in different areas related to the coronavirus”.

Read: WHO Praises China's Response To Coronavirus, Cites 'openness' To Scientific Inquiries

(Image credit: PTI)