Natural selection versus creation: a review on the origin of SARS-COV-2

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 has created a global disaster by infecting millions of people and causing thousands of deaths across hundreds of countries. Currently, the infection is in its exponential phase in several countries and there is no sign of immediate relief from this deadly virus. At the same time, some "conspiracy theories" have arisen on the origin of this virus due to the lack of a "definite origin". To understand if this controversy is also reflected in scientific publications, here, we reviewed the key articles published at initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (January 01, 2020 to April 30, 2020) related to the zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV-2 and the articles opposing the "conspiracy theories". We also provide an overview on the current knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 Spike as well as the Coronavirus research domain. Furthermore, a few important points related to the "conspiracy theories" such as "laboratory engineering" or "bioweapon" aspects of SARS-CoV-2 are also reviewed. In this article, we have only considered the peer-reviewed publications that are indexed in PubMed and other official publications, and we have directly quoted the authors' statements from their respective articles to avoid any controversy.