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arXiv · 2102.03910

An open debate on SARS-CoV-2's proximal origin is long overdue

Rossana Segreto·Yuri Deigin·Kevin McCairn·Alejandro Sousa·Dan Sirotkin·Karl Sirotkin·Jonathan J. Couey·Adrian Jones·Daoyu Zhang
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Abstract

There is a near consensus view that SARS-CoV-2 has a natural zoonotic origin; however, several characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 taken together are not easily explained by a natural zoonotic origin hypothesis. These include: a low rate of evolution in the early phase of transmission; the lack of evidence of recombination events; a high pre-existing binding to human ACE2; a novel furin cleavage site insert; a flat glycan binding domain of the spike protein which conflicts with host evasion survival patterns exhibited by other coronaviruses, and high human and mouse peptide mimicry. Initial assumptions against a laboratory origin, by contrast, have remained unsubstantiated. Furthermore, over a year after the initial outbreak in Wuhan, there is still no clear evidence of zoonotic transfer from a bat or intermediate species. Given the immense social and economic impact of this pandemic, identifying the true origin of SARS-CoV-2 is fundamental to preventing future outbreaks. The search for SARS-CoV-2's origin should include an open and unbiased inquiry into a possible laboratory origin.

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Rossana Segreto, Yuri Deigin, Kevin McCairn, Alejandro Sousa, Dan Sirotkin, Karl Sirotkin, Jonathan J. Couey, Adrian Jones, Daoyu Zhang. 2021-02-07. An open debate on SARS-CoV-2's proximal origin is long overdue. https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.03910

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