BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The National Genomics Data Center (NGDC) has released the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) database, according to Beijing Institute of Genomics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By using the database, researchers carried out the variation analysis of the genome of 2019-nCoV, and obtained detailed information on variation degree, variation region and variation base between the 2019-nCoV strains, between the 2019-nCoV strains and SARS-CoV and between the 2019-nCoV strains and SARS-like coronavirus bat strains, said Bao Yiming, director of NGDC.

Among published data, the 2019-nCov is 80 percent similar to the SARS virus that broke out in 2003. It also has the highest similarity of 88 percent with related genome sequences collected from a domestic bat in February 2017.

This is only a preliminary study, said Bao.

The similarity of genome sequences between viruses does not mean that their transmission and pathogenicity are similar. To understand the novel coronavirus, a careful comparative analysis is needed on specific fragments related to transmission and pathogenicity within the virus genome, Bao said.

The variation analysis of the genome of 2019-nCoV strains can provide important data basis and decision support for tracing the source of the virus, tracking the variation path of the virus strains, preventing and controlling the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus and treating viral pneumonia, Bao said.

Source: Xinhua