BEIJING — A national research team of 14 experts has been set up to help prevent and control the latest novel coronavirus outbreak in China, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced Jan 24.

The anti-virus research team is a part of the ministry's emergency sci-tech project, which was jointly launched with the National Health Commission and other departments at a recent meeting.

The project will offer sci-tech support on 10 research aspects, including virus tracking, virus transmission, detection methods, genome evolution, and vaccine development.

Respiratory scientist Zhong Nanshan was appointed head of the team. Zhong, also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is renowned for his work in China's fight against the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.