Australian scientists have made a breakthrough in the battle against the deadly coronavirus, successfully growing it in laboratory conditions.
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Researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne are the first scientists outside China to recreate the virus.
The discovery could speed up the development of a vaccine for the virus and improve testing.
The lab-grown virus - which was developed from the first patient diagnosed in Australia - will help with an accurate diagnosis of the disease across the world.
The researchers grew the virus in culture in just over 48 hours to Monday.
"It's a little bit like a lock and key. The virus has the key and the cell has the lock and if the right things are present, the virus can get inside," the institute's Virus Identification Laboratory Head Julian Druce said of the growing process on Wednesday.
"It's an exact match to the sequence from China."
It will be shared with laboratories working closely with the World Health Organisation in Europe, the Australian Animal Health Laboratory along with laboratories across Australia.
It will also help assess the effectiveness of trial vaccines.
"It is a key step in the development of vaccines, to assess vaccines," institute deputy director Mike Catton said.
"We have moved immediately to share this with our international colleagues to provide a toolkit that complements the modern molecular techniques that are so useful in the diagnosis and development of vaccines."
Chinese officials released the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus, which first surfaced in its Hubei province in December.
The lab-grown virus is expected to generate an antibody test, to help detect the virus in patients who have not displayed symptoms and were unaware they had it.
Australia's chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy told ABC radio it was a significant discovery, particularly for providing controls for tests and speeding up an antibody test.
The University of Queensland has joined researchers around the world who are trying to develop a vaccine for the virus.
A university spokesperson said the Melbourne discovery would allow them to test whether the immune response from potential vaccines can stop the growth of the virus.
The death toll has jumped past 100 and there are now more than 4500 confirmed cases of infection in mainland China.
The city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the illness, remains under lockdown along with other Chinese cities as Chinese authorities try to stop the disease spreading.
Six cases of the virus have been confirmed in Australia, with four in NSW and two in Victoria.
Australian Associated Press
