- Protein Structure and Sequence Reanalysis of 2019-nCoV Genome Refutes Snakes as Its Intermediate Host and the Unique Similarity between Its Spike Protein Insertions and HIV-1. Missing link in coronavirus jump from bats to humans could be pangolins, not snakes https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00129 3 comments science