Who is Shi Zhengli? The ‘Batwoman’ who discovered a new coronavirus and its potential impact on human health

Chinese scientists, under the leadership of Shi Zhengli,, have discovered a novel coronavirus of bats, HKU5-CoV-2, which could be harmful to humans. It was isolated from the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong and falls within the merbecovirus subgenus of viruses that cover the MERS virus. The alarm is raised by the observation that the new coronavirus has the same receptor as the virus for SARS-CoV-2, causing COVID-19, hence the ability to infect and transmit to humans.

HKU5-CoV-2 was initially discovered in bats, the Japanese pipistrelle bat, of Hong Kong. Since the virus belongs to the merbecovirus subgenus, it is similar to some with MERS and other coronaviruses to a certain extent. The scientists discovered that not only could the virus bind to ACE2 receptors in human beings but also other mammalian species. The ACE2 receptors are of highly critical significance to the virus for cell infectivity, and the ability of this virus to bind in different species as a cause for alarm regarding cross-species transmission.
Just like SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, HKU5-CoV-2 virus is able to bind with ACE2 receptors present in human cells. Such a characteristic of the virus is that the virus has the potential to infect man, as well as other mammals with cells that possess ACE2 receptors. ACE2 is an extracellular protein that lies outside the body of most cells within the human body, such as the cells within lungs, hearts, and kidneys, and serves as the point of entry of the virus.

Shi Zhengli led the research, one of China's leading virologists, who has worked on bat coronaviruses for years and has gained the nickname "batwoman" for her pioneering efforts.
Shi Zhengli et al. at Guangzhou Laboratory, Wuhan University, and Wuhan Institute of Virology released the virus's ability to bind human ACE2 receptors. Zhengli's earlier research at Wuhan Institute of Virology has also been questioned, particularly in the controversial lab leak theory of COVID-19 origins.

The scientists, as they conducted the work, witnessed how bat merbecoviruses such as HKU5-CoV-2 bear a huge spillover potential to the human populace. When the viruses are not already undergoing passage among the bats, then the viruses get passed on to the host human through an intermediary animal host. We are experiencing this with COVID-19 and how a virus's ability to mutate to hold appropriate receptors for humans and good transmission in and between humans will have disastrous world health consequences.
The study cautions that viruses such as HKU5-CoV-2, which can bind human ACE2 receptors, pose a high spillover risk to humans, either directly from bats or indirectly via intermediate hosts. Such a "spillover" risk is problematic since animal viruses, and particularly bat viruses, mutate and leap to the human population and cause outbreaks or even pandemics.

There are no confirmed human infections of HKU5-CoV-2, therefore, the symptoms are unknown.


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