TY - GEN
AU - Parry, Rhys
AU - Gifford, Robert J.
AU - Lytras, Spyros
AU - Ray, Stuart C.
AU - Coin, Lachlan J.M.
PY - 2021
DA - August
TI - No evidence of SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription and integration as the origin of chimeric transcripts in patient tissues
VL - 118
IS - 33
DO - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109066118
AB - There is interest in understanding the mechanisms that underlie reports that patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remain PCR positive many weeks after initial infection. The recent paper by Zhang et al. (1) suggests a potential explanation of this phenomenon by claiming that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can integrate into the genome of infected human cells. The authors also reanalyze RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data and report that SARS-CoV-2−host chimeric reads are present in cells and patient tissues. Given the potential implications of this research on the long-term impacts of COVID-19, we feel that it’s necessary to scrutinize the evidence presented.
PB - National Academy of Sciences
UR - http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/249705/
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER