A study of "Genome-wide CRISPR screens reveal host factors critical for SARS-CoV-2 infection" by Wei et al. Cell 2020

Identification of host genes essential for SARS-CoV-2 infection may reveal novel therapeutic targets and inform our understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis. Here, we performed genome-wide CRISPR screens in Vero-E6 cells with SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, bat coronavirus HKU5 expressing the SARS-CoV-1 spike, and VSV expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike. Together this identifies potential therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2 and reveals SARS-lineage specific and pan-coronavirus host factors that regulate susceptibility to highly pathogenic coronaviruses