2020-05-25 18:10
Editor's note:The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been in the eye of the storm since the novel coronavirus disease, later known as COVID-19, engulfed the world. Leaving almost nowhere untouched, the virus of unknown etiology has so far infected over 5 million people globally, with a death toll exceeding 338,000. It has forced shutdowns worldwide, crippling economies and upending lives overnight.
Since the first known cases were reported last December, scientists have raced to find the origins of the virus in the hope of developing a vaccine. In the meantime, a blame game is going on, with conspiracy theories ranging from the virus "leaking" from the Wuhan Institute of Virology to China "concealing" crucial information, despite repeated claims from scientists that it originated from nature.
CGTN spoke to three top epidemiologists from the institute to get their take on these rumors, how they view the outbreak and progress on cooperating with their international counterparts. The following interview with Shi Zhengli (Shi), a virologist and researcher at the institute, is the second in this series.
编者按：自新冠疫情席卷全球以来，武汉病毒研究所一直处在风口浪尖。这种来历不明的病毒在全球范围内已感染了500多万人，死亡人数超过33.8万。世界各地的工厂因其倒闭，一些地方的经济陷入瘫痪，人们的生活一夜之间发生了翻天覆地的变化。
自从去年12月第一例已知病例被报道以来，世界各地的科学家们一直在寻找新冠病毒的起源，希望能尽早开发出疫苗。但与此同时，尽管科学家们一再声称病毒来自自然界，一场相互指责的游戏正在上演。
CGTN采访了武汉病毒研究所的三位顶级流行病学家，听听他们对这些谣言和疫情的看法以及他们与国际同行合作的进展。以下是对武汉病毒研究所病毒学家、研究员石正丽（以下简称“石”）的采访实录，这是本系列的第二篇。
CGTN:Per reports, it was on December 30, 2019 that your team first obtained samples of the novel coronavirus. What have you done since then for identifying the pathogen?
CGTN:根据公开报道，您的团队是在2019年12月30号第一次接触到2019新型冠状病毒的样本，在此之后您的团队进行了哪些病原鉴定的工作？
Shi:We obtained samples on the afternoon of December 30, 2019, and our team first carried out coronavirus studies on the samples, which were thought to be from an unexplained case of pneumonia, since my laboratory has long been researching on coronaviruses. Meanwhile, we performed high-throughput sequencing of the samples and the isolation of pathogens. And then in a very short time, we identified that this was a new type of coronavirus in these samples. We obtained its whole genome sequence. It showed that the pathogen's sequence was not the same as the already existing viruses. So we named it a novel coronavirus. We, along with two other medical institutes in our country, submitted this genome sequence to the World Health Organization on January 12, 2020. At the same time, we also uploaded other sequences to a gene library called GISAID for governments and scientists around the world to identify pathogens and develop vaccines and screen drugs.
石：2019年12月30号下午接到样本以后，我们的团队首先就对这个样本，当时叫不明原因肺炎样本，我们对这个样本首先开展了冠状病毒的研究，因为我的实验室是长期做冠状病毒研究的团队，那么同时我们也对样本进行高通量测序，以及病原的分离。那么我们在很短的时间内，首先就确定了这些样本里边有新型的冠状病毒的感染，那么也获得了它的全基因组序列，证明这个病原和已有的我们已知的病毒的序列都不一样，所以我们当时把它命名为新型冠状病毒。后来我们和我们国家其他两个单位，同时在2020年1月12号，向世界卫生组织递交了病毒的全基因组序列。同时我们也把其他序列上传到一个叫GISAID的这样的一个基因库，供各国的政府、科学家用来做病原的鉴定，以及后边的疫苗和药物筛选使用。
CGTN:Did your work come to an end after you finished genome sequencing and shared it with the world?
CGTN：对于您来说完成了病毒基因组的测序和全球共享是否意味着您的工作就已经告一段落了？
Shi:No. The work we did earlier is only part of the pathogen identification in which we can know its genetic information and what kind of virus it is. For pathogen identification, another important step is animal infection experiments. These experiments are actually part of what's called Koch's postulates. Only through animal infection experiments can we finally determine that a certain pathogen is the main cause of a certain disease.
Since we have an animal model, we can use it to quickly do the experiments. We completed an animal infection experiment with transgenic mice on February 6. It showed the animal to be simulating some pneumonia symptoms consistent with those of humans infected with COVID-19. Then we completed the animal infection experiment with rhesus monkeys on February 9. Both the animal infection experiments showed that the coronavirus isolated by us was a cause of the unexplained pneumonia.
石：实际上不是的，我们前期做的工作只是病原鉴定的一部分。我们可以知道它的遗传信息以及病毒到底是哪一类的病毒，实际上作为一个病原鉴定的工作，还有一个重要的环节就是叫动物感染实验。这个动物感染实验实际上是叫柯赫氏法则——只有通过动物感染实验，最后才能确定某一种病原是造成某一种疾病的主要的一个原因。所以我们实际上在后来，因为我们前期有一些积累，我们有一个动物模型，所以我们可以利用动模型很快就是做了动物感染实验。实际上我们是在2020年2月6号就完成了一个转基因小鼠的动物感染实验。证明了这种动物可以模拟人感染的一些肺炎的症状。然后2月9号我们就完成了恒河猴的动物感染实验，所以说这两个动物感染实验都证明我们分离出来的冠状病毒是造成不明原因肺炎的一个病原。
CGTN:How would you assess your work after the outbreak?
CGTN：您如何评价疫情爆发以后，您和您的团队所做出的这一系列反应？
Shi:I think we have done a great job. I can say that in a very short period, we simultaneously carried out pathogen isolation, genome sequencing and animal infection experiments, and finished all this work without delay.
石：我觉得我们这次工作做得非常的漂亮，我们可以说是在很短的时间内，没有耽误一天的时间，在同时同步进行，完成了病原的分离、基因组测序以及动物感染实验。
CGTN:You just mentioned that you and your team have more than 10 years of experience in studying coronaviruses. Is there any connection between that and the work done this time?
CGTN：您刚才也提到了您和您的团队有10多年研究冠状病毒的这样一个工作经验，它和这次抗疫做出的这些工作有什么样的联系吗？
Shi:Very much so. We actually started to study bat coronaviruses in 2004. After 15 years, our team has gathered a large number of materials, technologies, methods and research platforms. A number of talented individuals have also joined our team. This has enabled us to understand the cause of the unexplained pneumonia in a very short time.
石：联系非常的密切。我们实际上是2004年开始从事蝙蝠冠状病毒的研究，经过15年的积累，我们团队积累了大量的材料、技术、方法以及研究平台，还有我们的人才队伍。 所以这样的一个积累才能够使我们在应对这一次疫情的时候，在最短的时间内弄清楚了不明原因肺炎的病原。
CGTN:How did this experience help you respond to the epidemic so quickly?
CGTN：您能具体解释一下是怎样的积累让您可以在这次抗击疫情的过程中反应，就像您说的，如此迅速吗？
Shi:In 15 years of research, we've figured out ways to trace viruses such as SARS-CoV. Through tracing SARS, we have found that there is genetic diversity in nature. We call them SARS-related viruses. The discovery of such viruses made us wonder: Do other SARS-related viruses also pose potential risks to humans?
石：我们通过这15年的研究，首先弄清楚了一个问题，就是SARS溯源的问题。那么通过SARS溯源的这个阶段的研究，我们就发现在自然界是有遗传多样的，我们把它叫做SARS相关病毒，这样的病毒的存在，那么这样病毒的存在我们发现就是说不仅仅是SARS这一种病毒，那么其他病毒是不是对我们人类也有潜在的风险？
Therefore, we started studying the distribution and genetic background of the viruses. At the same time, we conducted molecular biology experiments in the laboratory to assess whether these SARS-related viruses carried by bats could cause cross-species infection.
所以我们一边是去了解它的分布，知道他的遗传背景，那么同时我们也在实验室里开展一些分子生物学的实验，我们来评估在自然界蝙蝠体内携带的这么多的SARS相关病毒，是不是都有潜在跨种感染的可能？
This work actually provided us with good research experience and technical solutions. For example, it takes a long time to develop things like nucleic acid detection methods, antibody detection methods and virus isolation technologies. However, given our experience, we are able to complete pathogen identification when there is a sample.
这样一个系列的工作实际上是为我们提供了很好的研究经验和技术方案。比如说我们的核酸检测方法，以及我们的抗体检测方法，包括我们病毒分离的技术，这些都是要通过长时间的积累去摸索，最后我们能够达到就是有这样的样本在，我们就能够很好地去完成这个病原鉴定工作。
CGTN:Have you and your team carried out any international cooperation? If so, what role did it play during the global fight against the pandemic?
CGTN：您和您的团队是否也有展开国际上的一些合作？在这一次全球抗疫的大背景下发挥了什么样的作用？
Shi:Our original goal of international cooperation is to serve the health of all people around the world because we know emerging infectious diseases know no boundaries. It requires scientists and governments all over the world to be open, transparent and cooperative, working together to prevent and control new infectious diseases.
石：本身我们刚开始做这样的合作，就是奔着我们是为全球的人类健康做服务的，因为我们知道传染病研究或者新发传染病是没有国界的。它需要全球的科学家，包括政府，应该是奔着一个开放、透明、合作的一个目的。大家一起来对一些新发传染病进行预防和控制工作。
So in the very beginning, our goal was to cooperate. Through cooperation, we can achieve mutual benefit and understand the viruses as soon as possible. Apart from the laboratory work, sample collection and development of early warning models in the wild also require scientists from different fields and training experiences. One small team cannot do such work alone.
所以说最开始我们的目的就是一定要合作，然后我们在合作的过程中，我们互利互惠，然后相互之间能够尽快的或者说以最快的速度我们去了解自然界存在的这些病毒，不仅仅实验室的工作，我们还有野外的一些采样，还有野外的我们做一些预警模型等等，这是需要不同领域、受到不同训练的科学家一块才能完成的，单凭一个小团队是没办法完成这样的工作。
CGTN:The funding of some of these cooperative projects has been suspended. You must have learned that some of your partners have encountered such problems. What do you think about this?
CGTN：一些这样的合作项目它的资金被暂停了，你肯定也了解到您的一些合作伙伴遭遇了这样的不幸。您怎么看待这些项目被停止的原因？
Shi:I think that science has been politicized. It's very regrettable. I believe scientists from around the world don't want to see this. As I mentioned before, researches on infectious diseases must be open and transparent. For new infectious diseases, international cooperation can provide us with good technical support, which serves all mankind. So we feel it is very unfortunate.
石：我认为现在就是把政治和科学搅在一起了，就把科学政治化了。这个是非常遗憾的一件事情，我觉得全世界的科学家都不希望看到目前这种状况。因为我前面已经说过，传染病研究一定是要开放透明合作的，国际合作会给我们全人类的这种新发传染病提供很好的一个技术支撑，这是为全人类服务的。 所以我们觉得非常的遗憾。
CGTN:Tell us about your upcoming major tasks.
CGTN：那接下来您下一步的工作主要集中在哪些方面？
Shi:Next, I will continue some of the previous work, such as exploring unidentified pathogens. There are many types of bats and other wild animals in nature [which could potentially be the carriers of many viruses]. The viruses that we have discovered are actually just the tip of the iceberg. If we want to protect humans from the outbreak of new infectious diseases, we must take the initiative to learn about these unknown viruses carried by wild animals and give early warnings. And we must store some drugs and detection reagents for future prevention and control.
石：我下一步工作基本上可能还会延续前面的一部分工作，比如说做未知病原的探索。 我们知道自然界其实蝙蝠种类很多，还有其他野生动物的种类都非常多，那么我们现在发现的未知世界存在的未知病毒实际上只是冰山一角，如果我们要想很好地去保护我们人类，不再发生下一次新发传染病大爆发，我们必须提前去了解在自然界野生动物携带的这些未知病毒，提前预警，并且能够储备一些检测、预防或者治疗的药物和试剂，用于将来的这种预防和防控。
CGTN:So you will continue to carry out such researches. Why?
CGTN：接下来我们还是要展开这样的研究。您认为理由在哪里？
Shi:These viruses exist in nature whether we admit it or not. If we don't study them, there will possibly be another outbreak, and we wouldn't know them.
石：这些病毒就在自然界存在着，你承认不承认它们都存在，如果我们不去研究，还会有下一次的爆发，那我们都不认识它们。
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