A team of Chinese researchers have stumbled upon a new coronovirus infecting bats. HKU5-CoV-2 coronavirus can be transmitted to humans since it has the same human receptor.
The HKU5-CoV-2 coronavirus was first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong. It comes under the merbecovirus subgenus that includes the virus responsible for causing Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).
However, HKU5-CoV-2 can bind to not just the ACE2 receptors in humans but in several other mammals who can transmit it to humans. This is the same receptor used by the Sars-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19 and NL63 that causes common cold. But researchers said that the efficiency of the HKU5 coronavirus is lower than the Covid-19 virus, adding that there is no need to worry about a pandemic-like situation.
Who is Shi Zhengli?
Shi Zhengli, who led the research on HKU5-CoV-2 coronavirus, is referred to as batwoman because of her contributions to the studies on bat coronavirus. She has worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which sparked controversy over alleged lab leak of Covid-19 in 2020.
Zhengli the batwoman is the brain behind the first customised coronavirus receptor that could help in developing new drugs. These receptors, which are modular chimeric proteins, are compared to Lego blocks and can help in research about infectious diseases.
The latest study on HKU5-CoV-2 coronavirus carried out by Zhengli was carried out at the Guangzhou Laboratory. She was supported by researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wuhan University and Guangzhou Academy of Sciences.
