"Growing the virus in animal cells is one way to test whether the pathogen has adapted to a new host. Shi Yi, a microbiologist at the CAS Institute of Microbiology in Beijing, plans to introduce an inactivated version of RATG13, in various animals, such as bats, cats monkeys and pigs, and see whether the virus develops a similar pattern of mutations to SARS-CoV-2 over time. If similarities emerge, that could reveal which animals the virus adapted to before it jumped to people. "
Source:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01449-8
