In 2007 a study from the University of Hong Kong described 36 known #coronaviruses in the family Coronaviridae within the order Nidovirales. Members of the Coronaviridae are known to cause #respiratory or #intestinal infections in humans and other animals.

Back then this study made the following prediction :
“The presence of a large reservoir of SARS-CoV-like #viruses in horseshoe bats, together with the culture of eating exotic mammals in southern China, is a time bomb.

The possibility of the reemergence of #SARS and other novel #viruses from animals or laboratories and therefore the need for preparedness should not be ignored”

“The findings that horseshoe bats are the natural reservoir for SARS-CoV-like virus and that civets are the amplification host highlight the importance of wildlife and #biosecurity in farms and wet markets, which can serve as the source and amplification centers for emerging.

Source: https://cmr.asm.org/content/20/4/660.long

SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh #coronavirus known to infect humans. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) in the spike protein is the most variable part of the coronavirus genome. On the basis of structural studies, and biochemical experiments SARS-CoV-2 seems to have an RBD that binds with high affinity to receptor ACE2 from humans cats and other species with high receptor homology. The high-affinity binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to human ACE2 is most likely the result of natural selection on a human or human-like ACE2 that permits another optimal binding solution to arise. Thus there is strong evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is not the product of purposeful manipulation.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9

The Biogerontology Research Foundation announced the publication of an important paper by Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, the chief scientist of the Biogerontology Research Foundation and the CEO of an Insilico Medicine. In the paper Alex Zhavoronkov proposes a strategy for repurposing known geroprotectors such as rapamycin, nicotinamide riboside, nicotinamide mononucleotide, metformin, and other drugs with the known safety profile for prevention of COVID-19 in older people. There are over 1 billion people over 60 in the world and they are the demographic that’s most vulnerable to the virus.

Source: http://bg-rf.org.uk/press/combat-covid-19