Chinese scientist who published Sars-CoV-2 genome without approval regains access to lab
By 
Rebecca Trager2024-05-08T13:30:00
Following Zhang Yongzhen and his team’s eviction from their lab, a protest appears to have forced a U-turn from authorities
Chinese virologist Zhang Yongzhen, who became internationally known after his team was the first to release the genome of the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 in January 2020, appears to have resolved a sudden and very public clash with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (SPHCC) where he works.
When the pandemic hit, Zhang posted the genome of Sars-Cov-2 on virological.org, an the online forum for the pre-publication sharing and discussion of pathogenic virus sequences, without official approval. The data was instrumental in developing a vaccine against Covid-19. Consequently, Zhang was named one of Nature’s 10 people who helped shape science in 2020, and he also received the ICG-15 GigaScience Prize for Outstanding Data Sharing during the Covid-19 pandemic that same year. But the Associated Press reported that Zhang has faced obstruction conducting his research in China since publishing the sequence without state approval. These include ‘demotions and ousters’.