A team of Canadian researchers have successfully isolated the agent behind the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, a press release from Sunnybrook Research Institute announced Thursday.
According to Sunnybrook, their researchers teamed up with McMaster University and the University of Toronto to collaboratively isolate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outside the body.
The development “will help researchers in Canada and across the world develop better diagnostic testing, treatments and vaccines, and gain a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 biology, evolution and clinical shedding,” the institute announced.
As highlighted by The Independent, this is not the first time the virus has been isolated: “Chinese scientists first isolated the virus, and research teams in Australia and Italy are also among those who have isolated and grown samples of the virus in laboratories.”
“However,” the report noted, “as viruses continuously mutate and evolve, there are now several strains of the coronavirus, which are collectively known as SARS-CoV-2.” – READ MORE