Virologist who was first to share Covid genome sleeps on street after lab shuts

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01293-0

The first person to publicly release the genome sequence of the virus that causes COVID-19 — virologist Zhang Yongzhen — seems to have resolved a public dispute with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (SPHCC), Fudan University, China, which erupted last week.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01293-0

Updates & Corrections

  • Update 03 May 2024: The text was altered to reflect the fact that Zhang's social media posts have been removed

  • Correction 03 May 2024: Zhang's social media post regarding the agreement with SPHCC was posted after midnight on Tuesday night. The text has been corrected for accuracy.

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"title": "Virologist who was first to share Covid genome sleeps on street after lab shuts",
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"author": "Smriti Mallapaty",
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"description": "Zhang Yongzhen shared the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 with the world, speeding up the development of vaccines.",
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"title": "Chinese virologist who was first to share COVID-19 genome sleeps on street after lab shuts",
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"url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01293-0",
"title": "Chinese virologist who was first to share COVID-19 genome sleeps on street after lab shuts",
"description": "The first person to publicly release the genome sequence of the virus that causes COVID-19 — virologist Zhang Yongzhen — seems to have resolved a public dispute with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center...",
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"content": "<div>\n <p>The first person to publicly release the genome sequence of the virus that causes COVID-19 — virologist Zhang Yongzhen — seems to have resolved a public dispute with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (SPHCC), Fudan University, China, which erupted last week.</p>\n <div>\n <h2 id=\"access-options\">Access options</h2>\n <p>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://wayf.springernature.com/?redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-024-01293-0\">\n <span>Access through your institution</span>\n </a>\n </p>\n\t<div>\n\t\t\t<section>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals</p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription</p>\n\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><span>$32.99 <span>/ 30 days</span></span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>cancel any time</span>\n\t\t\t\t\t</p>\n\t\t\t\t</div>\n\t\t\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://shop-amers.nature.com/products/plus/?region=US\">Learn more</a>\n\t\t\t</section>\n\t\t\t<section>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Subscribe to this journal</p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Receive 51 print issues and online access</p>\n\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><span>$199.00 <span>per year</span></span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>only $3.90 per issue</span>\n\t\t\t\t\t</p>\n\t\t\t\t</div>\n\t\t\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/nature/subscribe\">Learn more</a>\n\t\t\t</section>\n\t\t\t<section>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Rent or buy this article</p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Prices vary by article type</p>\n\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><span>$1.95 <span>to</span> $39.95</span>\n\t\t\t\t\t</p>\n\t\t\t\t</div>\n\t\t\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01293-0.epdf?no_publisher_access=1&amp;r3_referer=nature\">Learn more</a>\n\t\t\t</section>\n\t\t\t<p>Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout</p>\n\t\t</div>\n <h3>Additional access options:</h3>\n <ul>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://idp.nature.com/auth/personal/springernature?client_id=grover&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-024-01293-0\">Log in</a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.springernature.com/gp/librarians/licensing/license-options\">Learn about institutional subscriptions</a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://support.nature.com/en/support/home\">Read our FAQs</a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.springernature.com/gp/contact\">Contact customer support</a>\n </li>\n </ul>\n </div>\n <p><em>doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01293-0</em></p>\n <div>\n <h3>Updates &amp; Corrections</h3>\n <ul><li>\n <p>\n <strong>Update 03 May 2024</strong>: The text was altered to reflect the fact that Zhang's social media posts have been removed</p>\n </li><li>\n <p>\n <strong>Correction 03 May 2024</strong>: Zhang's social media post regarding the agreement with SPHCC was posted after midnight on Tuesday night. The text has been corrected for accuracy.</p>\n </li>\n </ul>\n </div>\n <div>\n <p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?title=Chinese%20virologist%20who%20was%20first%20to%20share%20COVID-19%20genome%20sleeps%20on%20street%20after%20lab%20shuts&amp;author=Smriti%20Mallapaty&amp;contentID=10.1038%2Fd41586-024-01293-0&amp;copyright=Springer%20Nature%20Limited&amp;publication=&amp;publicationDate=2024-05-01&amp;publisherName=SpringerNature&amp;orderBeanReset=true\">Reprints and permissions</a></p>\n </div>\n <h2>Related Articles</h2>\n <ul>\n <li>\n <p>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03435-6\">\n <img src=\"https://media.nature.com/lw100/magazine-assets/d41586-024-01293-0/d41586-024-01293-0_18676088.jpg\" />\n Nature’s 10: ten people who helped shape science in 2020\n </a>\n </p>\n </li>\n <li>\n <p>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00827-2\">\n <img src=\"https://media.nature.com/lw100/magazine-assets/d41586-024-01293-0/d41586-024-01293-0_24655478.jpg\" />\n COVID-origins study links raccoon dogs to Wuhan market: what scientists think\n </a>\n </p>\n </li>\n <li>\n <p>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00732-0\">\n <img src=\"https://media.nature.com/lw100/magazine-assets/d41586-024-01293-0/d41586-024-01293-0_24598128.jpg\" />\n Scientists struggle to probe COVID’s origins amid sparse data from China\n </a>\n </p>\n </li>\n </ul>\n <h2 id=\"subjects\">Subjects</h2>\n <ul>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/subjects/politics\">Politics</a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/subjects/virology\">Virology</a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/subjects/sars-cov-2\">SARS-CoV-2</a>\n </li>\n</ul>\n <section>\n <h2 id=\"tablist-heading\">Latest on:</h2>\n <ul>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01293-0#latest-content-0-container\">Politics</a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01293-0#latest-content-1-container\">Virology</a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01293-0#latest-content-2-container\">SARS-CoV-2</a>\n </li>\n </ul>\n <section>\n <ul>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03314-6\">\n <img src=\"https://images.nature.com/w140h79/magazine-assets/d41586-026-03314-6/d41586-026-03314-6_53846414.jpg\" />\n <p>Nepal’s disaster is an urgent wake-up call</p>\n <p><span>Comment</span> <span>20 OCT 26</span></p>\n </a>\n </li>\n <li>\n <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03226-5\">\n <img src=\"https://images.nature.com/w140h79/magazine-assets/d41586-026-03226-5/d41586-026-03226-5_53851206.jpg\" />\n <p>What’s the secret sauce for happy scientists at work? 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"author": "Mallapaty, Smriti",
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