Sallard Erwan, Halloy José, Casane Didier, van Helden Jacques, Decroly Étienne
École Normale Supérieure de Paris, 45 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France.
Université de Paris, CNRS, LIED UMR 8236, 85 bd Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris, France.
Med Sci (Paris). 2020 Aug-Sep;36(8-9):783-796. doi: 10.1051/medsci/2020123. Epub 2020 Aug 10.
SARS-CoV-2 is a new human coronavirus (CoV), which emerged in People's Republic of China at the end of 2019 and is responsible for the global Covid-19 pandemic that caused more than 540 000 deaths in six months. Understanding the origin of this virus is an important issue and it is necessary to determine the mechanisms of its dissemination in order to be able to contain new epidemics. Based on phylogenetic inferences, sequence analysis and structure-function relationships of coronavirus proteins, informed by the knowledge currently available, we discuss the different scenarios evoked to account for the origin - natural or synthetic - of the virus. On the basis of currently available data, it is impossible to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 is the result of a natural zoonotic emergence or an accidental escape from experimental strains. Regardless of its origin, the study of the evolution of the molecular mechanisms involved in the emergence of this pandemic virus is essential to develop therapeutic and vaccine strategies.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）是一种新型人类冠状病毒，于2019年底在中国出现，它引发了全球新冠疫情，在六个月内造成了超过54万人死亡。了解这种病毒的起源是一个重要问题，有必要确定其传播机制，以便能够控制新的疫情。基于系统发育推断、冠状病毒蛋白质的序列分析和结构-功能关系，并结合目前可得的知识，我们讨论了为解释该病毒起源（自然起源或合成起源）而提出的不同情形。根据目前可得的数据，无法确定SARS-CoV-2是自然人畜共患病出现的结果还是实验菌株的意外逃逸。无论其起源如何，研究这种大流行病毒出现过程中涉及的分子机制的演变对于制定治疗和疫苗策略至关重要。
