Sydney, Jan 29 (AFP/APP): Scientists in Australia have successfully replicated the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, in what they said would be a “game changer” in the fight against a deadly epidemic which has stricken thousands. The Doherty Institute in Melbourne announced Wednesday that it had grown the novel coronavirus in cell culture from a patient sample, the first time the virus has been replicated outside China. “Having the real virus means we now have the ability to actually validate and verify all test methods, and compare their sensitivities and specificities,” virus identification laboratory head Julian Druce said. “It will be a game changer for diagnosis.” China was quick to sequence the genome of the coronavirus and make it public, allowing scientists around the world to develop diagnostic tools and winning praise for its efforts, in contrast to the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003. However, China has not shared the virus itself with laboratories worldwide — which the Australian lab will now do via the World Health Organization (WHO) — though the WHO announced Tuesday that Beijing had agreed to allow a team of international experts into the country to work with their Chinese counterparts. Doherty Institute deputy director Mike Catton said the … Continue reading Australian scientists ‘first to grow’ new coronavirus outside China