How did someone writing something somewhere that you don't even know change your mind about anything?
I recognized this name
...Andrew Rambaut.....so it's not totally unknown....and while I will admit that there is still some possibility that it was a weaponized virus I found the reasoning in the article to be very compelling....
Not to slam on you, justoffal, but that is the Bernays Celebrity Endorsement advertising technique. You dont really know this guy at all, but since you recognise his name you feel like you do, as if he and you were members of the same little town. That is one way mass media manipulates us.
But the reasoning is all an appeal to authority when this is not a topic that has unanimous agreement among experts. There are experts who disagree too.
The reasoning is thin I think. The core of the article is:
They suggested that it cannot be an artificial creation because its structure "differed substantially from those of already known coronaviruses and mostly resembled related viruses found in bats and pangolins".
The researchers suggested that anyone looking to create a new coronavirus and use it as a bioweapon would probably have built it using the backbone of a virus that has already killed humans.
"Its distinct backbone rules out laboratory manipulation as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2,” Andersen added.
However, we still do not know exactly how the coronavirus came into being. "
"Would probably" kind of shoots absolute certitude into the dirt if not making it completely irrelevant.
And which of the two strains of the disease is he talking about? Not explained, why?
Look at how viruses change when their RNA/DNA goes through 'reassortment' or 'antigenic shift':
Evolution of viruses (article) | Viruses | Khan Academy
Influenza ("flu") viruses are masters of reassortment. They have eight RNA segments, each carrying one or a few genes.4^{4}4start superscript, 4, end superscript
When two influenza viruses infect the same cell at the same time, some of the new viruses made inside of the cell may have a mix of segments (e.g., segments 1-4 from strain A and segments 5-8 from strain B).
Pigs in particular are well-known "mixing vessels" for influenza viruses.5^{5}5start superscript, 5, end superscript Pig cells can be recognized, and thus infected, by both human and bird influenza viruses (as well as pig viruses). If a cell in the pig is infected with two types of virus at the same time, it may release new viruses that contain a mixture of genetic material from the human and bird viruses.
The Receptor layer changes along with the core RNA, but not with COVID19. It has the same Receptor layer as a variant of SARS, hence why its full name is
SARS-CoV-2.
And here are some articles that talk about the similarities:
Studies highlight nCoV similarity with SARS, family transmission
COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus 2019) – recent trends
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Receptors Show Similarities to SARS-CoV, According to New Analysis
Decade-long structural studies by Fang Li of the University of Minnesota, et al. have shown how the SARS virus (SARS-CoV) interacts with animal and human hosts in order to infect them. The mechanics of infection by the Wuhan coronavirus appear to be similar. These investigators used the knowledge they gleaned from multiple SARS-CoV strains—isolated from different hosts in different years—and angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptors from different animal species to model predictions for the novel Wuhan coronavirus. (Both viruses use ACE2 to gain entry into the cell, but it serves normally as a regulator for heart function.)
“Our structural analyses confidently predict that the Wuhan coronavirus uses ACE2 as its host receptor,” the investigators wrote. That and several other structural details of the new virus are consistent with the ability of the Wuhan coronavirus to infect humans and with some capability to transmit among humans.
“Alarmingly, our data predict that a single mutation [at a specific spot in the genome] could significantly enhance [the Wuhan coronavirus’s] ability to bind with human ACE2,” the investigators write. For this reason, Wuhan coronavirus evolution in patients should be closely monitored for the emergence of novel mutations at the 501 position in its genome, and to a lesser extent, the 494 position, in order to predict the possibility of a more serious outbreak than has been seen so far.
Obviously I am not an expert, but there are experts who disagree with the Brit above and it amazes me that having a recognizable name has such impact on how people think.
