Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronavirus (SARS‐CoV)‐2′s origin is still controversial. Genomic analyses show SARS‐CoV‐2 likely to be chimeric, most of its sequence closest to bat CoV RaTG13, whereas its receptor binding domain (RBD) is almost identical to that of a pangolin CoV. Chimeric viruses can arise via natural recombination or human intervention. The furin cleavage site in the spike protein of SARS‐CoV‐2 confers to the virus the ability to cross species and tissue barriers, but was previously unseen in other SARS‐like CoVs. Might genetic manipulations have been performed in order to evaluate pangolins as possible intermediate hosts for bat‐derived CoVs that were originally unable to bind to human receptors? Both cleavage site and specific RBD could result from site‐directed mutagenesis, a procedure that does not leave a trace. Considering the devastating impact of SARS‐CoV‐2 and importance of preventing future pandemics, researchers have a responsibility to carry out a thorough analysis of all possible SARS‐CoV‐2 origins. The perfect binding ability of SARS‐CoV‐2 to human cells and the presence of the furin cleavage site, which is new for SARS‐like coronaviruses, might derive from genetic manipulation performed during evolutionary studies. By combining a bat coronavirus backbone and a receptor binding domain from pangolin coronavirus the resulting chimera would seem completely natural.
【저자키워드】 SARS‐CoV‐2, Receptor binding domain, furin cleavage site, RaTG13, pangolin CoV, BtCov/4991, Gain‐of‐function studies, 【초록키워드】 Coronaviruses, coronavirus, Intervention, virus, SARS‐CoV‐2, RBD, Recombination, Pandemics, CoV, cross, Mutagenesis, pangolin, Analysis, chimeric, tissue, sequence, CoVs, cleavage site, backbone, human cell, researcher, binding ability, genetic manipulation, Host, resulting, performed, evaluate, the spike protein, 【제목키워드】 Genetic, Laboratory, SARS‐CoV‐2, chimeric, genetic manipulation,