A new study, involving the University of Cambridge and led by the Pirbright Institute, has identified key genetic changes in SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—that may be responsible for the jump from bats to humans, and established which animals have cellular receptors that allow the virus to enter their cells most effectively.
The genetic adaptions identified were similar to those made by SARS-CoV—which caused the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic—when it adapted from bats to infect humans.