Scientists Uncover New Nidoviruses That Could Cause the Next Pandemic

Suddenly they appear and — like the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus — can trigger major epidemics: Viruses that nobody had on their radar. They are not really new, but they have changed genetically. New genetic analyses by an international team of researchers suggest that the genetic material exchange between different virus species can create new pathogens with significantly altered, and potentially more threatening, characteristics. The large-scale study was led by virologists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).

“Using a new computer-assisted analysis method, we discovered 40 previously unknown nidoviruses in various vertebrates from fish to rodents, including 13 coronaviruses,” reports DKFZ group leader Stefan Seitz. With the help of high-performance computers, the research team, which also includes Chris Lauber’s working group from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Hanover, has sifted through almost 300,000 data sets. According to virologist Seitz, the fact that we can now analyze such huge amounts of data in one go opens up completely new perspectives.