A new genetic analysis of 10 genome sequences of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from nine patients in Wuhan, China finds that the virus is most closely related to two bat-derived SARS-like coronaviruses, according to a study published in The Lancet. 2019-nCoV likely emerged very recently and was detected relatively rapidly. While the virus is genetically different to human severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and should be considered a new human-infecting coronavirus, it may use the same molecular ‘doorway’ as SARS to enter human cells.
