- Chung-I Wu1,
- Haijun Wen1,
- Jian Lu2,
- Xiao-dong Su2,
- Alice C. Hughes3,
- Weiwei Zhai4,
- Chen Chen5,
- Hua Chen6,
- Mingkun Li6,
- Shuhui Song6,
- Zhaohui Qian7,
- Qihui Wang8,
- Bingjie Chen1,
- Zixiao Guo1,
- Yongsen Ruan1,
- Xuemei Lu9,
- Fuwen Wei10,
- Li Jin11,
- Le Kang12,
- Yongbiao Xue6,
- Guoping Zhao13 &
- …
- Ya-Ping Zhang9
2754Accesses
21Citations
168 Altmetric
26Mentions
Article PDF
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Althoff, K.N., Schlueter, D.J., Anton-Culver, H., Cherry, J., Denny, J.C., Thomsen, I., Karlson, E.W., Havers, F.P., Cicek, M.S., Thibodeau, S.N., et al. (2021). Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in All of Us Research Program Participants, January 2–March 18, 2020. Clin Infect Dis, doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab519.
Bajic, G., Maron, M.J., Adachi, Y., Onodera, T., McCarthy, K.R., McGee, C.E., Sempowski, G.D., Takahashi, Y., Kelsoe, G., Kuraoka, M., and Schmidt, A.G. (2019). Influenza antigen engineering focuses immune responses to a subdominant but broadly protective viral epitope. Cell Host Microbe 25, 827–835.e6.
Becker, M.M., Graham, R.L., Donaldson, E.F., Rockx, B., Sims, A.C., Sheahan, T., Pickles, R.J., Corti, D., Johnston, R.E., Baric, R.S., et al. (2008). Synthetic recombinant bat SARS-like coronavirus is infectious in cultured cells and in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105, 19944–19949.
Bloo7m, J.D., Chan, Y.A., Baric, R.S., Bjorkman, P.J., Cobey, S., Deverman, B.E., Fisman, D.N., Gupta, R., Iwasaki, A., Lipsitch, M., et al. (2021). Investigate the origins of COVID-19. Science 372, 694.1–694.
Crosby, A.W. (2003). America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 (Cambridge University Press).
Davies, N.G., Abbott, S., Barnard, R.C., Jarvis, C.I., Kucharski, A.J., Munday, J.D., Pearson, C.A.B., Russell, T.W., Tully, D.C., Washburne, A.D., et al. (2021). Estimated transmissibility and impact of SARSCoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 in England. Science 372, eabg3055.
Dawkins, R. (1996). The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design (WW Norton & Company).
Dinnon III, K.H., Leist, S.R., Schäfer, A., Edwards, C.E., Martinez, D.R., Montgomery, S.A., West, A., Yount Jr, B.L., Hou, Y.J., Adams, L.E., et al. (2020). A mouse-adapted model of SARS-CoV-2 to test COVID-19 countermeasures. Nature 586, 560–566.
Goldschmidt, R. (1982). The Material Basis of Evolution, Vol 28 (Yale University Press).
Gu, H., Chen, Q., Yang, G., He, L., Fan, H., Deng, Y.Q., Wang, Y., Teng, Y., Zhao, Z., Cui, Y., et al. (2020a). Adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in BALB/c mice for testing vaccine efficacy. Science 369, 1603–1607.
Gu, J., Yan, H., Huang, Y., Zhu, Y., Sun, H., Qiu, Y., and Chen, S. (2020b). Comparing containment measures among nations by epidemiological effects of COVID-19. Natl Sci Rev 7, 1847–1851.
Hu, J., Lei, C., Chen, Z., Liu, W., Hu, X., Pei, R., Su, Z., Deng, F., Huang, Y., Sun, X., et al. (2020). Distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 and possible aerosol transmission in Wuhan hospitals, China. Natl Sci Rev 7, 1865–1867.
Huynh, J., Li, S., Yount, B., Smith, A., Sturges, L., Olsen, J.C., Nagel, J., Johnson, J.B., Agnihothram, S., Gates, J.E., et al. (2012). Evidence supporting a zoonotic origin of human coronavirus strain NL63. J Virol 86, 12816–12825.
Korber, B., Fischer, W.M., Gnanakaran, S., Yoon, H., Theiler, J., Abfalterer, W., Hengartner, N., Giorgi, E.E., Bhattacharya, T., Foley, B., et al. (2020). Tracking changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: evidence that D614G increases infectivity of the COVID-19 virus. Cell 182, 812–827.e19.
La Rosa, G., Mancini, P., Bonanno Ferraro, G., Veneri, C., Iaconelli, M., Bonadonna, L., Lucentini, L., and Suffredini, E. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in northern Italy since December 2019: Evidence from environmental monitoring. Sci Total Environ 750, 141711.
Leist, S.R., Dinnon III, K.H., Schäfer, A., Tse, L.V., Okuda, K., Hou, Y.J., West, A., Edwards, C.E., Sanders, W., Fritch, E.J., et al. (2020). A mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 induces acute lung injury and mortality in standard laboratory mice. Cell 183, 1070–1085.e12.
Menachery, V.D., Yount Jr, B.L., Debbink, K., Agnihothram, S., Gralinski, L.E., Plante, J.A., Graham, R.L., Scobey, T., Ge, X.Y., Donaldson, E.F., et al. (2015). A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence. Nat Med 21, 1508–1513.
Normile, D. (2013). Understanding the enemy. Science 339, 1269–1273.
Paley, W. (1829). Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature (Lincoln and Edmands).
Randazzo, W., Truchado, P., Cuevas-Ferrando, E., Simón, P., Allende, A., and Sánchez, G. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater anticipated COVID-19 occurrence in a low prevalence area. Water Res 181, 115942.
Ruan, Y., Luo, Z., Tang, X., Li, G., Wen, H., He, X., Lu, X., Lu, J., and Wu, C.I. (2021a). On the founder effect in COVID-19 outbreaks: how many infected travelers may have started them all? Natl Sci Rev 8, nwaa246.
Ruan, Y., Wen, H., He, X., and Wu, C.I. (2021b). A theoretical exploration of the origin and early evolution of a pandemic. Sci Bull 66, 1022–1029.
Sallard, E., Halloy, J., Casane, D., Decroly, E., and van Helden, J. (2021). Tracing the origins of SARS-COV-2 in coronavirus phylogenies: a review. Environ Chem Lett 19, 769–785.
Segreto, R., and Deigin, Y. (2021). The genetic structure of SARS-CoV-2 does not rule out a laboratory origin. BioEssays 43, 2000240.
Sharp, P.M., and Hahn, B.H. (2011). Origins of HIV and the AIDS pandemic. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 1, a006841.
Tang, X., Wu, C., Li, X., Song, Y., Yao, X., Wu, X., Duan, Y., Zhang, H., Wang, Y., and Qian, Z. (2020). On the origin and continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2. Natl Sci Rev 7, 1012–1023.
Tegally, H., Wilkinson, E., Giovanetti, M., Iranzadeh, A., Fonseca, V., Giandhari, J., Doolabh, D., Pillay, S., San, E.J., and Msomi, N. (2020). Emergence and rapid spread of a new severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineage with multiple spike mutations in South Africa. medRxiv,https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.21.20248640.
Voloch, C.M., da Silva Francisco, R., de Almeida, L.G.P., Cardoso, C.C., Brustolini, O.J., Gerber, A.L., Guimarães, A.P.C., Mariani, D., da Costa, R.M., Ferreira, O.C., Frauches, T.S., de Mello, C.M.B., Leitão, I.C., Galliez, R.M., Faffe, D.S., Castiñeiras, T.M.P.P., Tanuri, A., and de Vasconcelos, A.T.R. (2021). Genomic characterization of a novel SARS-CoV-2 lineage from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. J Virol 95.
Zhou, H., Ji, J., Chen, X., Bi, Y., Li, J., Wang, Q., Hu, T., Song, H., Zhao, R., Chen, Y., Cui, M., Zhang, Y., Hughes, A.C., Holmes, E.C., and Shi, W. (2021). Identification of novel bat coronaviruses sheds light on the evolutionary origins of SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses. Cell, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.008
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China
Chung-I Wu, Haijun Wen, Bingjie Chen, Zixiao Guo & Yongsen Ruan
State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Center for Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
Jian Lu & Xiao-dong Su
Landscape Ecology Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China
Alice C. Hughes
Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Weiwei Zhai
Biomedical Innovation Center, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100038, China
Chen Chen
Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and China National Centre for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
Hua Chen, Mingkun Li, Shuhui Song & Yongbiao Xue
Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100176, China
Zhaohui Qian
CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Qihui Wang
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China
Xuemei Lu & Ya-Ping Zhang
CAS Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Fuwen Wei
MOE Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
Li Jin
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Le Kang
Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China
Guoping Zhao
- Chung-I Wu
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Haijun Wen
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Jian Lu
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Xiao-dong Su
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Alice C. Hughes
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Weiwei Zhai
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Chen Chen
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Hua Chen
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Mingkun Li
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Shuhui Song
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Zhaohui Qian
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Qihui Wang
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Bingjie Chen
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Zixiao Guo
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Yongsen Ruan
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Xuemei Lu
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Fuwen Wei
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Li Jin
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Le Kang
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Yongbiao Xue
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Guoping Zhao
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Ya-Ping Zhang
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
Corresponding author
Correspondence toChung-I Wu.
Ethics declarations
Compliance and ethics The author(s) declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, CI., Wen, H., Lu, J.et al. On the origin of SARS-CoV-2—The blind watchmaker argument.Sci. China Life Sci.64, 1560–1563 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-021-1972-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
Share this article
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative
Profiles
- Hua ChenView author profile
- Zhaohui QianView author profile
- Li JinView author profile
- Guoping ZhaoView author profile