Scientists are getting closer to discovering the origins of the novel coronavirus that sparked the pandemic.
"We've been studying the origin of viruses for a long time," said Dr. Robert Garry, a virologist at Tulane University School of Medicine, who is something of a disease detective.
He and his team have been looking for coronaviruses in Southeast Asia mostly in bats to see if they can find the progenitor of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Dr. Garry said his team has found several close relatives and are close to finding the virus’ direct ancestor.
"By comparing these viruses, looking for different signatures - we call them signature motifs, different parts of the virus proteins - we can start to piece together how a virus like SARS-CoV-2 could have evolved," he explained.
"We need to find out what other SARS-like viruses are out there so we can be much better prepared the next time. We don’t want another pandemic like this to happen."
As an expert in the origin of viruses, Dr. Garry said there is no truth to the conspiracy theories that the novel coronavirus may have been created in a lab as a bio weapon.
"There’s no reason to think that investigators in China had any viruses anywhere close to SARS-CoV-2 or knew about it before the outbreak happened."
