China’s ‘bat woman’ at centre of coronavirus theories says her work helped identify new strain fast
- Shi Zhengli tells state broadcaster that years of research meant cause of mystery pneumonia was quickly found after it emerged in Wuhan last year
- She says she will continue to study unknown pathogens because the ones that have been discovered are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’
Shi Zhengli – dubbed China’s “bat woman” for her research on coronaviruses in the mammals – told state broadcaster CGTN on Monday those studies had “enabled us to understand the cause of the unknown pneumonia in the shortest time” after the first cases emerged in Wuhan late last year.
Days after samples were obtained on December 30, the team sequenced them and isolated the pathogen, believing it to be a new type of coronavirus, said Shi, director of the Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Wuhan Institute of Virology.
They proved the strain they had isolated was causing the mystery illness by conducting experiments on transgenic mice and rhesus monkeys in early February, simulating the pneumonia symptoms experienced by humans with Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Shi said 15 years of research and molecular biology experiments looking at whether coronaviruses carried by bats had the potential to jump species had given them the experience and technical solutions needed when the outbreak began.