In an experiment in China in 2015, a group of scientists has managed to develop a chimera an organism modified by attaching surface protein of coronavirus found in great horseshoe bats to a virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in mice.

The reports by the National Center for Biotechnology Information and Great Game India's article confirms the statement.

According to the reports, in November 2015 scientists investigated a virus called SHC014, which is found in horseshoe bats in China. The researchers created a chimeric (genetic) virus, made up of a surface protein of SHC014 and the backbone of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus that had been adapted to grow in mice. This chimera infected in human has the necessary structure to bind to a key receptor on the cells and to infect them. It also caused disease in mice but did not kill them.

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Reference links

Great Game India

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National Center for Biotechnology Information

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Nature News

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