key: cord-1050216-vcf5072k authors: Cai, Lei; He, Lin title: The novel coronavirus and humans: who can dominate who? date: 2021-05-25 journal: J BioX Res DOI: 10.1097/jbr.0000000000000098 sha: 4d4b37a9c2d98be5c1ad12cc3bbfb22801461ada doc_id: 1050216 cord_uid: vcf5072k nan regarding what should we learn from the past year of the pandemic: The 2020 was a bleak and tragic year for all mankind that saw the beginning of a battle for life or death between humans and the invisible novel coronavirus. We must ask ourselves: will the novel coronavirus or humans be the winner? Only by understanding whether humans or viruses truly dominate the earth can we understand the root cause of the current pandemic. After analyzing this issue, I have come to the following conclusions: During this time of great upheaval, unlike anything that has been seen in a century, the novel coronavirus has declared war against mankind. This is a silent war. This is a war between light (mankind) and dark (the novel coronavirus). In this war, mankind lacks targets and constantly takes empty shots into the air and/or at open ground. This is a war in which mankind is passive, irrational, and beaten. This is a war in which the probability of human exterminating the coronavirus is almost zero since the virus can mutate at unexpected frequency. This is an endless war. This is a life-or-death fight. This is a two-front war between two camps. In this war, it is difficult to determine the distribution of the novel coronavirus, both per unit volume and geographically. In this war, measures such as mask-wearing, hand-washing, and social distancing are "defensive" and do not constitute an attack, making it difficult for humans to actively and conclusively bring an end to the war. The novel coronavirus may be promoting human cannibalism by inspiring hate and killing. From this perspective, might it be a good idea to invite the novel coronavirus to claim the world in one fell swoop? More than a year has passed since the war began, but humans still have not come up with a blueprint or timeline for victory. There is almost no mutually beneficial relationship between the novel coronavirus and human beings; rather, there is hate. Therefore, the opportunities for reconciliation are considerably limited. On one side of this war are extremely "smart" human beings, while on the other side is a pathogen that is blind, deaf, and dumb, is invisible to the naked eye, does not have a brain or consciousness, or even blood, and can barely be described as alive. So why is it the humans who seem so clumsy and blind? Why are humans still confused about whether the life cycle of the novel coronavirus is 7 days, 14 days, 3.5 days, or some other duration? Is it because it is difficult to measure the viral life cycle, and therefore we have to rely on speculation? Humans still do not understand the basic nature of the novel coronavirus, such as how it survives. Is it possible that viruses are actually immortal? Although the Chinese National Holiday in 2020 was very lively, it did not give rise to any new cases of COVID-19 in China. No one knows why China is safe and sound: is it because we have conquered the virus, or because our people are lucky? Or are there differences in susceptibility among different ethnicities? From a molecular point of view, who is instructing these viruses to capture human nucleic acids and use the host endoplasmic reticulum to assemble them into copies of the viral genome? Why do all novel coronavirus assemble into fine circular structures, and how do they become evenly distributed in "naillike" structures? Is the encounter between humans and the novel coronavirus a random collision, or is it the result of an exchange of consciousness? Who is directing the novel coronavirus to escape from host cells, and, after it emerges, who directs its activities? Human beings do not yet know where the novel coronavirus propagates most prolifically. The vaccine is not totally effective: there have been cases in which patients who previously had pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus were re-infected. What does this imply, and how can re-infection be prevented? Individuals continue to die from the novel coronavirus, even though the vaccine has been introduced. Is there a way to deal with variants? Although humanity has made progress in the campaign against the novel coronavirus, it seems that our current knowledge is limited to direct experience, whereas an understanding of the mechanism or principle driving the infectivity of the virus is still lacking. Judging from the current situation, the novel coronavirus has turned human society upside down, creating chaotic conditions. So far, these questions seem to have no clear answers. We believe that the participation of more geneticists could help change the outcome of this war. Virology: bornavirus enters the genome Novel NGS pipeline for virus discovery from a wide spectrum of hosts and sample types Less over-prevention, more positive mentality None.Author contributions LC wrote the English version of the manuscript. LH prepared the Chinese comments and reviewed the manuscript. Both authors approved the final version of the manuscript. None. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Editor note: LH is an Editorial Board member of Journal of Bio-X Research. The article was subject to the journal's standard procedures, with peer review handled independently of this Editorial Board member and their research groups.