In a chilling study from Beijing, Chinese scientists created a mutant COVID-19 strain, GX_P2V, with a 100% lethality rate in “humanized” mice.
Similar to GX/2017 found in Malaysian pangolins, the virus has raised serious concerns about potential human spillover risks.
The mutated strain, GX_P2V, exhibited an alarming speed in attacking the brains of mice engineered to reflect human genetic makeup. Within eight days, all infected mice succumbed to the virus, showcasing a surprisingly rapid death rate.
Researchers noted that GX_P2V had penetrated various organs, including the lungs, bones, eyes, tracheas, and brains.
The severity of brain infections proved fatal, causing a distinctive set of symptoms, such as rapid weight loss, a hunched posture, sluggish movement, and eerily eyes turning completely white the day before death.
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While the study raises concerns about a potential spillover risk into the human population, it fails to provide clear insights into how the virus might affect humans.
Critics, including Francois Balloux from the University College London’s Genetics Institute, express apprehensions about the research, deeming it “terrible” and “scientifically totally pointless.”
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Importantly, the 2024 study appears unrelated to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a focal point in lab leak theories surrounding the pandemic.
