Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34880490›Full record

ReviewNature2021

The emergence, genomic diversity and global spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Juan Li, Shengjie Lai, George F Gao, Weifeng Shi

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 253 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
253citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

253 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  12. Simultaneous detection of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and nucleic acids by coupling PNIPAM with circle-to-circle amplification.Analytical sciences : the international journal of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry · 2026
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  19. Integrated framework to study genomic surveillance of selective sweeps in multivariants dynamics.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
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193 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Juan Li *School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Tai'an, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0905-7188
Shengjie Lai *WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9781-8148
George F GaoNational Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3869-615X
Weifeng ShiSchool of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Tai'an, China. shiwf@ioz.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8717-2942

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Since the first cases of COVID-19 were documented in Wuhan, China in 2019, the world has witnessed a devastating global pandemic, with more than 238 million cases, nearly 5 million fatalities and the daily number of people infected increasing rapidly. Here we describe the currently available data on the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, outline the early viral spread in Wuhan and its transmission patterns in China and across the rest of the world, and highlight how genomic surveillance, together with other data such as those on human mobility, has helped to trace the spread and genetic variation of the virus and has also comprised a key element for the control of the pandemic. We pay particular attention to characterizing and describing the international spread of the major variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2 that were first identified in late 2020 and demonstrate that virus evolution has entered a new phase. More broadly, we highlight our currently limited understanding of coronavirus diversity in nature, the rapid spread of the virus and its variants in such an increasingly connected world, the reduced protection of vaccines, and the urgent need for coordinated global surveillance using genomic techniques. In summary, we provide important information for the prevention and control of both the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and any new diseases that will inevitably emerge in the human population in future generations.

Indexed as

InternationalityAnimalsCOVID-19Genome, ViralHumansMinkMolecular EpidemiologyPhylogenySARS-CoV-2Spike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirusspike protein, SARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.