It turned out that the coronavirus infects people more effectively than bats or lizards

Australian scientists used high-throughput computer modeling of the shape of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in

early in the pandemic to predict its ability to infect humans and 12 domestic and exotic animals.

The goal of the researchers is to identify anyintermediate animal vectors that may have played a role in the transmission of the bat virus to humans. In addition, scientists investigated the susceptibility of domestic and commercial animals - dogs, cats, cows, pigs, horses, sheep - to a new type of coronavirus.

Scientists from Flinders University and the UniversityLa Trobe used genomic data from 12 animal species to build computer models of key receptors for the ACE2 protein for each species. They were then used to calculate the binding strength of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the ACE2 receptor of each species.

Surprisingly, the results showed thatSARS-CoV-2 binds to ACE2 on human cells more strongly than any animal species tested, including bats and pangolins. “It appears that the virus is well adapted to infecting humans,” the scientists note.

Humans showed the strongest adhesion binding, corresponding to a high susceptibility to the virus. It is surprising if the animal was the original source of infection in humans.

David Winkler, Professor at La Trobe University 

The results, originally published on the arXiv preprint server, have now been peer-reviewed and published inScientific Reports.

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