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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Experts call on Taipei to fund virus research group
The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 novel coronavirus is seen in an illustration released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday last week. Photo: Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM/CDC / Reuters
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
Medical experts in Taipei yesterday urged the government to fund an additional research group to develop a cure and vaccine for the 2019 novel coronavirus （2019-nCoV）, after National Taiwan University （NTU） managed to isolate the virus strain.
Nearly 20 academics from NTU, National Tsing Hua University （NTHU）, Academia Sinica, the National Health Research Institutes （NHRI） and the National Defense Medical Center, as well as some business representatives, yesterday gathered for a closed-door meeting to come up with advice for the government on how to further respond to the virus.
Instead of becoming trapped in discussions about masks and exclusion by the WHO, the government should this week establish a research group to develop a cure and vaccine, said Li Chia-wei （李家維）, a professor at NTHU’s Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
Li is also editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language version of the Scientific American magazine, which organized the post-meeting news conference.
NTU vice president Chang Shan-chwen （張上淳）, a key actor in combating SARS in 2003, said that the school has succeeded in isolating the virus strain and would continue expanding its research by working with the Centers for Disease Control.
Experts in the field are now working “like a plate of loose sand,” while a good leader and more funding are needed to consolidate research efforts and share accurate information to alleviate public concern, said Sophie Chang （張淑芬）, chairwoman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s （台積電） Education and Culture Foundation.
Asked how the WHO’s exclusion of Taiwan would affect research, NHRI president Liang Kung-yee （梁賡義） said that information about the virus is available through many channels and that determination is the key for making a breakthrough.
As different institutions might have their own positions, the government should appoint an academic leader to coordinate research projects, he added.
More than 30 complete 2019-nCoV genome sequences are available on the Internet, allowing for different experiments, said Alex Ma （馬徹）, a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Genomics Research Center.
Ma is part of former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey’s （翁啟惠） team, which has been studying influenza.
Safety is the major concern for researchers when cultivating 2019-nCoV to make a vaccine, Ma said, adding that it could take years to develop a vaccine.
The genetic sequence of 2019-nCoV is more than 70 percent similar to that of the SARS virus, but what the virus host is and how the human-to-human transmission works are not yet clear, Wong said in a written statement.
While the fatality rate is lower than that of SARS, its transmission is faster and it is likely to become an epidemic like influenza, he said.
As the virus strain has been isolated, further research could include developing antibodies from the blood samples of patients, or new cures using old drugs, he said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
