Coronavirus fears sparked after new 'sinister' experiments at Wuhan lab

A bad seed never dies — or so the saying goes. And if it doesn’t die, it evolves. The Wuhan Institute of Virology is once again in the spotlight after publishing a study describing the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus found in bats, named HKU5-CoV-2. What’s particularly concerning about this discovery is that the virus can infiltrate human cells using the same ACE2 receptor as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

HKU5-CoV-2 was identified in bats from the Pipistrellus family, collected from various provinces across China. Genetic analysis shows that while it belongs to the same broad family of coronaviruses as MERS-CoV — the virus behind Middle East Respiratory Syndrome — it is more distantly related to SARS-CoV-2. However, its ability to bind to the ACE2 receptor makes it a potential candidate for zoonotic transmission, meaning the virus could jump from animals to humans.

At least for now, this new strain is under control in Wuhan, but experts remain deeply concerned.

Warnings and lack of “adequate safety levels”

The study revealing this information, published in the journal Cell, not only details the discovery of the virus in anal swab samples from bats, but also calls for further research into strains with more infectious spike proteins. As part of the next phase, researchers plan to assess the virus’s ability to cause disease in humanized mice and study the mechanisms that activate its spike protein.

However, Dr. Alina Chan, a biosecurity expert who has been targeted by the Chinese government for years, voiced serious concerns over these experiments being conducted in Wuhan, arguing that the city lacks the necessary safety measures for this kind of research. Speaking to The Telegraph, Chan warned: “After everything we’ve been through with Covid-19, I do not believe there is adequate biosafety in Wuhan for this type of work. If this research must be done, it should happen in a biosafety level 4 laboratory, far away from any urban centers.”

Calls for caution — but no cause for panic yet

Despite the alarm triggered by this discovery, some scientists are urging restraint, emphasizing the lack of evidence that the virus has infected humans. Dr. Amira Roess, professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University, told CNN: “Even the researchers themselves point out that this shouldn’t cause panic. It helps us understand what’s happening in case this virus spreads and poses a risk. The more we know about these viruses, the better.”

The discovery of HKU5-CoV-2 underscores the urgent need to continue studying coronaviruses present in wildlife to anticipate potential public health threats. For now, while the virus shares certain characteristics with SARS-CoV-2, scientists say it does not yet have the same efficiency when it comes to infecting human cells. Even so, its identification has reignited debate over laboratory biosafety standards and the need for extreme caution in virology research.

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