00:00It has been nearly 5 years since COVID-19 began sweeping across the world.
00:04Now, after extensive genetic tracking,
00:06scientists say they have discovered the definitive origin of the virus.
00:10The analysis looked at metagenomic RNA data taken from the stalls of captive animals at
00:15a wet market in Wuhan before it was shuttered.
00:17The animals had already been removed when the samples were collected.
00:20However, they captured what they called DNA and RNA ghosts from many of the species.
00:25They then corroborated those with genotyping their mitochondrial genomes,
00:29revealing the species and also where the COVID virus was present,
00:32with the researchers finding that the novel coronavirus
00:35was discovered in the stalls of raccoon dogs and civets.
00:39With the researchers saying about their findings,
00:41we are seeing the DNA and RNA ghosts of these animals in the environmental samples,
00:46and some are in the stalls where SARS-CoV-2 was found too.
00:49This is what you would expect under a scenario in which there were infected animals in the market.
00:53The researchers also conducted an evolutionary analysis of the viral genomes,
00:58finding it was unlikely the virus inhabited humans prior to the animal infections.
01:02Experts say they are hopeful this investigation will finally eliminate
01:05the widely circulated rumors that the COVID pandemic started in a lab.
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