Thread by @pleunipennings, A few days ago @NicolettaML journalist for @LiveScience asked my opinion about [...]

Pleuni Pennings

pleunipennings

A few days ago @NicolettaML journalist for @LiveScience asked my opinion about a soon to be published paper about SARS-CoV2 CpG content. I promised to read it, but was surprised how bad it was. It's published in @OfficialSMBE ! https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/doi/10.1093/molbev/msaa094/5819559

Extreme genomic CpG deficiency in SARS-CoV-2 and evasion of host antiviral defense

Abstract. Wild mammalian species, including bats, constitute the natural reservoir of Betacoronavirus (including SARS, MERS, and the deadly SARS-CoV-2). Differ

https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/doi/10.1093/molbev/msaa094/5819559

Here's @nicolettaML's write up: https://www.livescience.com/did-coronavirus-evolve-in-dogs-after-bats.html

New study suggests COVID-19 hopped from dogs to humans. Here's why you should be skeptical.

https://www.livescience.com/did-coronavirus-evolve-in-dogs-after-bats.html

Turns out I am not the only one who is skeptical. https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-new-paper-making-suggestions-about-stray-dogs-being-a-possible-origin-of-sars-cov-2-the-virus-that-causes-covid-19/

There is a lot of nonsense in this paper and really no evidence.

I'm also, personally annoyed because a paper from my lab is cited wrongly: "Many studies have shown an association between decreased CpG (low ICpG) in viral RNA genomes and increased virulence, not only in HIV evolving within individual patients (Theys et al., 2018)..."

I just checked and we didn't use the word virulence in our paper.

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