Story perspectives
New Brazilian bat coronavirus shows natural furin cleavage site
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Story summary
- International researchers discovered a new Brazilian bat coronavirus that contains a furin cleavage site.
- The virus is a betacoronavirus in a distinct subgenus, distantly related to SARS-CoV-2.
- Its furin cleavage site differs by one amino acid from the site in SARS-CoV-2.
- Markus Hoffmann said there is no compelling evidence SARS-CoV-2 was engineered in a lab.
- Kosuke Takada said the finding shows functional furin sites occur naturally in bat betacoronaviruses.