In a major breakthrough in the global fight against coronavirus, scientists in Australia have developed a lab-grown version of the disease. Australian scientists have become the world's first outside of China to copy the coronavirus. The discovery will enable scientists to develop a test to identify people who might be infected, even before they show any symptoms. It will also help speed up work towards a vaccine for the disease, which has claimed more than 100 lives in China and infected five Australians. Described as a "game changer" that will help scientists determine whether a future vaccine is effective, experts at Melbourne's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity on Tuesday became the world's first scientific lab outside of China to copy the virus. They will now share it with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Europe, which will in turn share it with labs worldwide -- including one from Queensland -- involved in the worldwide race to develop a vaccine. The Doherty Institute is the second lab in the world to copy the disease. A lab in China was the first, but did not share its discovery with the WHO. However, the same lab released images of the genetic sequence of the disease, which helped scientists at the Doherty Institute copy it.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-29/wuhan-coronavirus-created-in-australian-lab-outside-of-china/11906390