Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center warn that genetic recombination between different viruses may create new, more dangerous pathogens. Using AI, researchers discovered 40 new nidoviruses in various vertebrates. These RNA viruses, through crossbreeding, could lead to fatal diseases and potentially trigger a pandemic. Similar processes may occur in mammals, with bats being a likely reservoir for such viruses.
Scientists have cautioned that ‘crossbreeding’ between different viruses could result in the emergence of a completely new, altered virus with potentially more dangerous characteristics. Such viruses could even spark another COVID-19-like pandemic, according to virologists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).
Nidoviruses consist of ribonucleic acid (RNA)
This natural virus evolution occurs as different virus species create new pathogens inside vertebrates. “Using a new computer-assisted analysis method, we discovered 40 previously unknown nidoviruses in various vertebrates from fish to rodents, including 13 coronaviruses,” said DKFZ group leader Stefan Seitz.
Researchers note that most of these viruses are still unknown to humans because scientific studies have primarily focused on viruses that cause diseases in humans, domestic animals, and crops. However, with the new AI-assisted method, scientists were able to analyze 300,000 data sets and derive insightful data simultaneously. Nidoviruses consist of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and possess common characteristics that distinguish them from all other RNA viruses and document their relationship.
The researchers found that when host animals are infected with different viruses concurrently, a new virus may emerge as a result of the recombination of viral genes. “Apparently, the nidoviruses we discovered in fish frequently exchange genetic material between different virus species, even across family boundaries,” says Stefan Seitz.
This virus evolution is more pronounced and radical when two viruses from entirely different families interact. Such evolution may lead the virus to cause fatal and dangerous diseases to the host animal. “A genetic exchange, as we have found in fish viruses, will probably also occur in mammalian viruses,” explains Stefan Seitz. Such natural crossbreeding processes among viruses can easily occur in bats, which are known to carry a large number of viruses inside their bodies. Researchers suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus may have also developed among bats.