Dispute simmers over who first shared SARS-CoV-2’s genome

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Martin Enserink
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When GISAID, the widely used database for influenza and SARS-CoV-2 genomes, issued a statement last week about a set of controversial sequences from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, the release explained by way of background that the repository was “an essential contributor to glo...

When GISAID, the widely used database for influenza and SARS-CoV-2 genomes, issued a statement last week about a set of controversial sequences from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, the release explained by way of background that the repository was “an essential contributor to global health” trusted by thousands of data contributors from 215 nations and territories. But GISAID also included a claim that has been puzzling and infuriating some virologists for 3 years: It was the place where the first SARS-CoV-2 genomes were publicly shared, on 10 January 2020.

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Matt Ridley 2mos

Interesting story. Seems like there is uncertainty about who posted the first version of the virus genome in a public database. Just as there is uncertainty about how the pandemic began a few months earlier.