Tag: Genetics And Molecular Biology

Viral clockworks: How do coronaviruses spill over?

Composition in rectangular format. Deep yellow background, an orange virus occupies half of the picture. The virus has white hands and feet and stands on a black clock with white details.

Coronaviruses are widespread in mammals and birds and sometimes they jump species, as SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans. This investigation describes the genomic events during Avian coronavirus passages from hamster cells to primate cells in order to understand the mechanisms of coronavirus adaptation to a new host. Read More →

Coronavirus Sars-Cov-2 responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic is a specialist in infecting humans

ACE2 is the protein used by new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) to enter the host-cells. Our comparative analysis with 70 mammals revealed a relatively high diversity of ACE2 between these species, but no polymorphism within human populations, at least considering 30 sites located at the ACE2 binding sites to the SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 can infect any human from any population, but it is unable to infect, naturally and easily, other mammals, including pets. Read More →