Japan Times reports that the National Institute of Infectious Diseases has succeeded in cultivating and isolating the new coronavirus, first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The virus has been isolated from a person in Japan who has been confirmed to have the virus.
Vaccine development
Using the isolated virus, the institute will start work to develop a vaccine and a drug for the coronavirus, as well as a test kit capable of quick diagnosis.
It will also offer the isolated virus to researchers and companies, while trying to discover the infection mechanism and promoting research on the toxicity of the virus.
No gene mutations
The isolated virus’ gene sequences 99.9% matched those released by the Chinese government, according to the Japanese institute.
In the isolated virus, there was no gene mutation leading to higher infectiousness or toxicity, the institute said.
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Source: Japan Times
