Covid origins: Genetic ghosts suggest pandemic started in market
Covid origins: Genetic ghosts suggest pandemic started in market
A team of scientists say it is "beyond reasonable doubt" the Covid pandemic started with infected animals.
A team of scientists say it is “beyond reasonable doubt” the Covid pandemic started with infected animals sold at a market, rather than a laboratory leak.
They were analysing hundreds of samples collected from Wuhan, China, in January 2020.
The results identify a shortlist of animals – including racoon dogs, civets and bamboo rats – as potential sources of the pandemic.
Despite even highlighting one market stall as a hotspot of both animals and coronavirus, the study cannot provide definitive proof.
The samples were collected by Chinese officials in the early stages of Covid and are one of the most scientifically valuable sources of information on the origins of the pandemic.
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Their analysis was published last year and the raw data made available to other scientists. Now a team in the US and France says they have performed even more advanced genetic analyses to peer deeper into Covid's early days.
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I know this is off topic, but - why didn't anyone tell me there's a species called a raccoon dog?!
Look up some of the Japanese lore about Tanuki (the Japanese name for the raccoon dog). It involves magic, giant scrotums, and all sorts of delightful stuff.
If you like anime, Studio Ghibli (famous for a lot of classics including Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and others) did a movie called Pom Poko, which is about tanuki. If you don't care for subtitles, the English dub is pretty good, and the voice cast stars a lot of well known (for the time) American actors.
I will always upvote a Ghibli recommendation!
You might know of the tanuki, which is specifically the Japanese raccoon dog.
I didn't know about that one either!
If you’ve ever played Super Mario Bros 3 (or other Mario games where this same suit is found) there’s a Tanooki suit, which is the one that lets you fly!
The raccoon tail lets you fly. The Tanooki suit lets you turn into a statue, but also happens to have a raccoon tail so it also lets you fly.
Ahh yes, the opposite of flying. Thanks for the correction!
There's also a tanuki critter in world of warcraft
You were told. You just didn’t listen.
Oy!