Scientists from the Peking University Research Center for Chemical Technology and Clinical Medicine in China have created a new, 100% lethal strain of coronavirus called GX_P2V. From this reports Daily mail.
The new coronavirus strain was created from the GX/2017 virus, which was discovered in pangolins (placental tree-dwelling mammals) in Malaysia, several years before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Scientists evaluated the consequences of infection with the new virus using an experiment in mice transplanted with a human gene that makes it easier for the virus to enter cells. All experimental rodents died within seven to eight days after the virus entered the body.
The effects of the virus were devastating to the mice’s lungs, trachea, bone tissue, eyes and brain. GX_P2V is stated to spread throughout the body in a unique way.
The work of Chinese scientists has been criticized by the scientific community. Professor Francois Balloux, an infectious diseases expert from University College London, described the study as “appalling and scientifically meaningless”. Professor Richard Ebright, a chemist at Rutgers University in Canada, agreed wholeheartedly with Ballou’s assessment.
Experts also expressed concerns about the biosafety of the laboratory where the experiments were carried out. Ebright said similar studies conducted in Wuhan in 2016-2019 may have contributed to the coronavirus pandemic.
Previously in Uzbekistan was created Edible vaccine against COVID-19.