Seven COVID-19 variants found in U.S. with same mutation

Source:- newzee


In a study released on Sunday (February 14), scientists found seven variants of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. with a mutation in the same position in their genes.
"What was so remarkable is that we noticed that one alphabet letter in the amino acid, the protein code that DNA or RNA is translated into, in the same position on this protein that the virus uses as its harpoon, like how the virus fuses itself to a human cell and invades our cells, that very weapon the virus uses to enter cells had made a mistake or maybe a lucky mistake for the virus, the same type of mistake at the same position," said Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and co-author of the study.
Kamil said the public shouldn't "have any serious concerns yet" if these seven variants with the same mutation could make the virus more contagious.
"In evolutionary biology or virology, a very, very tiny difference in infectivity can outcompete a competitor like a sibling," he said. "So if you saw two marathon runners and one was running just a hair of a fraction of a mile per hour faster or a kilometer per hour faster than the competitor, over the marathon, they'd get quite far ahead, but you wouldn't see any difference if they were running by you on your block. So for an individual patient, it's almost certain that these differences are not going to mean anything clinically, although we can't rule it out, and that is something to be a little bit concerned about. There's no reason to panic here."
Kamil said that their study sequenced genomes from 0.4%, or about four in 1,000, of coronavirus test samples.
"Mostly the concern should be that we don't sequence enough because these variants are just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "No doubt. And as far as these seven variants, for all we know, they're an academic curiosity, and I hope they stay that way."