Genetics in the Origin of Covid

Genetics in the origin of covid

Covid-19 is an infectious disease that infected many people who would experience a moderate to mild respiratory illness. During the time a group of scientist have proven that a new theory in which the Covid-19 pandemic began from animals to humans instead of a leak from a laboratory. But in 2020 a seafood market in Wuhan China contained both SARS-CoV-2 and the genetic material from a raccoon dog. Racoon dogs have been a widespread in parts of Europe where they are considered an invasive species

Figure 1 

During the pandemic many rumors were told but in this article a man name Michael says he doesn't necessary believe the raccoon dog was infected but they were in the same area. But during the same year in 2020, the market was closed and scientist believes that the creatures were infected with the virus. Questions were asked in where the origin came from but all we know is that genetic data was not released to the public in China. But finally it was released to the global research in 2023. My opinion in this is that Covid-19 was spread and many rumors were told but I feel like a animal to human transmissions is easy so for the raccoon dog or any animals it could have been easy for the virus to have spread from animal to human.  In Figure 2 we see the invasive and the immunity of the raccoon dog it also, talks about genome. so, in this article it tells us that raccoon dog is an invasive species which is mainly native to East Asia. This being said the disease could have been carried from the animals and transmitted into humans.   

Figure 2 

Reference: 

Magazine, S. (2023, March 20). Genetic evidence ties Covid’s origin to Raccoon Dogs. Smithsonian.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/genetic-evidence-ties-covids-origin-to-raccoon-dogs-180981846/

Tobias, J. (2023, May 10). How the media botched the raccoon dog theory of covid-19. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2023/05/10/covid-pandemic-origin-raccoon-dog/

Author links open overlay panelTianming Lan 1 2 9, 1, 2, 9, 4, 5, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, Highlights•Generated a high-quality chromosome-scale reference genome of the raccoon dog•Identified and validated sex-linked genomic regions by resequencing 38 individuals•Genomic basis for omnivory, & SummaryThe raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is an invasive canid species native to East Asia with several distinct characteristics. Here. (2022, September 15). The chromosome-scale genome of the raccoon dog: Insights into its evolutionary characteristics. iScience. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422201389X