Corona epidemic 25,000 years ago? Genetic traces lead to East Asia

There may have been a coronavirus epidemic 25,000 years ago.

This is suggested by the results of a study from Australia.

Canberra / Munich - We have been living with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year.

There are still many unanswered questions about the origin of the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen.

However, coronaviruses are nothing new to us humans.

Sars and Mers are also viruses.

As the results of a study show, there is even said to have been a corona epidemic 25,000 years ago.

That's what Yassine Souilmi and his colleagues from the Australian National University want to have found out.

Coronavirus: epidemic already 25,000 years ago?

- Study provides conclusions

The study followed the following structure:

• An analysis of the genome of almost 2500 people from 26 different populations was carried out.

• The goal: A search for genes that provide clues about past confrontations of people with the coronavirus.

"In the course of the evolutionary history of our species, natural selection has often favored proteins that interact with viruses - for example because they improve our immune protection or are needed by viruses to board the cell machinery," the researchers wrote in their study.

For coronaviruses alone, a total of 420 of the so-called virus-interacting proteins (VIP) are known.

In an epidemic, the human body ultimately reacts by preferring to pass these proteins on.

The background to this is that they bring survival advantages with them.

When such genes occur, it can ultimately be deduced whether people were exposed to the selection pressure from coronaviruses.

Researchers can also determine the point in time.

In this way, the researchers at the Australian National University found what they were looking for.

"Our analyzes of coronavirus VIPs find a strong enrichment signal for such proteins in several East Asian populations," the scientists wrote.

They added that this signal was absent in other populations.

This in turn suggests that there must have been a long-lasting coronavirus epidemic in the past.

Coronavirus study: results suggest an epidemic 25,000 years ago

To determine the time period, 42 of the virus-interacting proteins were carefully examined.

According to the results of the study, the number of gene variants from earlier residents of East Asia must have increased significantly.

"The pattern fits the occurrence of an epidemic that brought about a strong surge in selection for such virus-interacting proteins 25,000 years ago," the researchers explained.

From their results, they concluded, among other things, that the epidemic may have lasted for several generations.

Finally, it should be added that the study is a so-called pre-print.

This means that it has not yet been analyzed and rated by independent scientists.

(mbr)