The virus can indeed “evolve” in vitro to produce its various mutations. This was announced on October 15 by Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor at the School of Systems Biology at George Mason University (Virginia, USA), virologist Ancha Baranova.
The virologist explained that such experiments could be carried out with the aim of inventing a vaccine that could “overtake” the virus.
“[Для этого] you just need to evolve it in a test tube and see what happens. This is called a function acquisition experiment, “Baranova said in an interview.Lenta.ru“, Explaining that some experts believe such manipulations are the reason for the emergence of SARS-CoV-2.
The virologist also noted that the vaccine does not have the task of keeping up with mutations. She explained that at the very beginning of the pandemic there were hopes that with the help of herd immunity it would be possible to stop the virus, but it is already clear that SARS-CoV-2 has joined the structure of pathogens.
“In the near future, it will torment humanity, and we will have to periodically vaccinate against it,” Baranova said.
Earlier, on September 27, it became known that the World Health Organization (WHO) plans to resume an investigation into the origin of COVID-19. At the same time, it was clarified that the scientific advisory group will have to find out exactly how the Sars-Cov-2 virus appeared. In particular, the version of its laboratory origin will be considered.
On August 24, U.S. intelligence provided American leader Joe Biden with a report on the origins of the coronavirus that lacked clear conclusions. The initial task was to find out if the coronavirus was transmitted from animal to person or if its spread was the result of a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan.
In late March, WHO released a report following a trip to China in January to study COVID-19. Then experts could not come to an unambiguous conclusion about the origin of the coronavirus.
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