Shi Zhengliย is a Chineseย virologistย who researchesย SARS-like coronavirusesย of bat origin. Shi directs the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at theย Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). In 2017, Zhengli and her colleague Cui Jie discovered that the SARS coronavirusย likely originated in a population of cave-dwellingย horseshoe batsย inย Xiyang Yi Ethnic Township, Yunnan. She came to prominence in the popular press as “Batwoman” during theย COVID-19 pandemic for her work with bat coronaviruses. Shi was included inย Time magazine’sย 100ย Most Influential People of 2020.
She graduated fromย Wuhan University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in geneticsย She received her master’s degree from the Wuhan Institute of Virologyย of theย Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1990, and she received her Ph.D. at theย Montpellier 2 Universityย in France in 2000, where she gained fluency in French.
In 2005, Shi Zhengli and colleagues found that bats are the natural reservoir of SARS-like coronaviruses. In 2008 Shi led a research team that studied binding ofย spike proteinsย of both natural andย chimaericย SARS-like coronaviruses toย ACE2 receptors in human, civet, and horseshoe bat cells, to determine the mechanism by which SARS may have spilled over into humans. In 2014, Shi Zhengli collaborated on additionalย gain-of-functionย experiments led byย Ralph S Baricย of theย University of North Carolina, which showed that two critical mutations that theย MERS coronavirus possesses allow it to bind to the human ACE2 receptor, and that SARS had the potential to re-emerge from coronaviruses circulating in bat populations in the wild. Shi is the director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at theย Wuhan Institute of Virologyย (WIV), located inย Jiangxia District,ย Wuhan.
During theย COVID-19 pandemic, Shi and other institute scientists formed an expert group to researchย Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In February 2020, researchers led by Shi Zhengli published an article inย Nature titled, “A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin”, finding that SARS-CoV-2 is in the same family as SARS and that it has 96.2%ย genomeย overlap with the most closely related known coronavirus,ย RaTG13.
Shi is a member of the Virology Committee of the Chinese Society for Microbiology. She is editor-in-chief ofย Virologica Sinica, theย Chinese Journal of Virology, and theย Journal of Fishery Sciences of China.
Shi Zhengli Bio
Name: Shi Zhengli
Born: ย 26 May 1964Xixia County, Henan
Education: Wuhan University, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Montpellier 2 University
Known For: Research into bat viruses
Scientific Career: Virology (Field)
Institutions: Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
