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Can you explain how that evolutionary path led to the virus becoming better adapted to humans than it is to bats, and can you explain how all the samples we hav
by esja 6y ago
Can you explain how that evolutionary path led to the virus becoming better adapted to humans than it is to bats, and can you explain how all the samples we have ever found, from the very beginning of this outbreak, are uniquely adapted to humans?
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06199 https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06199
- robbiep 6y agoYou’ve asked the same question in 3 spots. You’re asking the question backwards and not reading the other comments here (for example, the particular response you responded to) There are some very good reasonable answers for why and how this could have happened, unless you’re a biologist and are going to tell us how it happened (which the paper you cited doesn’t) you’re beating on a painful drum
- esja 6y agoOk, if there are very reasonable answers, perhaps you can point to them?
- mabbo 6y agoIt's not an unreasonable question. But my own guess? Selection bias applies. Viruses grow by the millions, billions, and mutations occur frequently. This virus's ancestor might have hopped around civets for months. Then, a few random mutations on one got lucky and made it really good at infecting humans. That's when it made the leap. We don't see the billions of attempts and mutations that sucked at infecting humans. We see the one that did. Now, my own bias is that my honours thesis was on evolutionary algorithms and I spent a lot of time being amazed at how well random mutations can lead to optimal answers.