Novel Coronavirus, Virus Isolation Success... Positive Signal for Vaccine Development

As the government restricts entry for all foreigners who have visited or stayed in Hubei Province to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, health authorities are screening passengers at the dedicated arrival area for flights from China at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport on the 5th.
Yeongjongdo - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Domestic health authorities have succeeded in isolating the novel coronavirus. They plan to share information with the scientific community to develop treatments.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced on the 5th, "We confirmed the proliferation of the novel coronavirus by inoculating patient respiratory specimens such as sputum into cells and culturing them," adding, "We proved the isolation of the novel coronavirus by analyzing the virus's genetic nucleotide sequence."

Viruses can only be cultured in living cells. In the case of a new virus, researchers repeat cell division, growth, and proliferation to increase the number of viral particles before conducting studies. According to the viral genetic information released by KCDC, the isolated virus's nucleotide sequence matched (99.5~99.9%) those of viruses isolated in major foreign countries including China (Wuhan, Guangdong), France, Singapore, and Germany.

No significant genetic mutations were found. The name of the novel coronavirus Korean isolate is 'BetaCoV/Korea/KCDC03/2020'. The nucleotide sequence information of the domestic novel coronavirus isolate has been registered in the Influenza Surveillance Network (GISAID) managed by the World Health Organization, allowing researchers both domestically and internationally to utilize it for research. GISAID contains nucleotide sequences of the novel coronavirus from Korea and other countries.

Jung Eun-kyung, Director of KCDC, stated, "The isolated virus is an indispensable resource for the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, and we will distribute it to relevant agencies with appropriate qualifications in cooperation with related ministries to facilitate research and development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.