Identified a characteristic of viruses that makes them more likely to jump from animals to humans

Rafael Sanjuán A study carried out by the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio, UV-CSIC) reveals that enveloped viruses with a lipid envelope can better infect different species of animals, including humans. The flu, HIV or coronaviruses are enveloped viruses. This work makes it possible to refine surveillance tools to control zoonoses, the passage of these viruses from animals to people. Viruses are the most numerous organisms on Earth. Thousands are already known, but there are millions yet to be discovered. To enter the host they need to live, viruses deploy different strategies. After analysing 12,000 virus-host associations, a research group from the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio) - a joint centre of the University of Valencia (UV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) - has observed that enveloped viruses - those with a lipid outer shell - are more capable of infecting multiple species and are at greater risk of jumping from animals to humans.