The coronavirus is not an artificially created bioweapon, scientists have said. 

A team of researchers from Edinburgh University have dispelled the rumours that the origin of the Covid-19 virus was from a nefarious laboratory in a report exploring its origins.

Concern had been raised by officials in China and the US that the virus was a man-made bioweapon. 

Kristian Andersen, PhD, an associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research and corresponding author on the paper, said: “By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that SARS-CoV-2 [another name for Covid-19] originated through natural processes.”

By analysing the molecular structure of the virus, the team were able to determine that it was not an artificial creation due to its structure differing "substantially from those of already known coronaviruses and mostly resembled related viruses found in bats and pangolins".

This is important because the team concluded that any malicious attempt to engineer a virus would likely use an already deadly virus as the "backbone" for their creation.

The analysis has not uncovered how Covid-19 emerged, however. 

Andrew Rambaut, a member of Edinburgh University's Institute of Evolutionary Biology, was a co-author on the report.

He said "it is difficult if not impossible to know" the exact origins of Covid-19. 

Josie Golding, PhD, epidemics lead at the Wellcome Trust, said the findings are “crucially important to bring an evidence-based view to the rumours that have been circulating about the origins of the virus".

“They conclude that the virus is the product of natural evolution, ending any speculation about deliberate genetic engineering," she added.

As of today, three people in Scotland have died while infected with the virus and 227 cases have been confirmed positive.