HYDERABAD: A researcher from the University of Hyderabad has identified three regions in the genome of novel Coronavirus (nCov) that differentiates it from coronaviruses found in animals like bats and civets, making the novel Coronavirus pathogenic to humans and highly infectious.
These three regions are located on the spike protein of the virus, which helps it to bind itself to human cells and infect them. Investigating the evolution of Coronavirus, Prof Lalitha Guruprasad of the School of Chemistry conducted a study to understand differences between Coronavirus that causes the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) among humans and Coronavirus found in a bat or civet.
According to a media release by UoH, the researcher believes that the identified regions in spike protein of the nCov can be exploited as potential candidates for antibody design. Her study also cautions that some SARS Corona genomes from bats are still evolving and may acquire the capabilities to infect humans.