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12:01 PM
Saturday 09 May 2020
Agencies:
American researchers have detected a mutation in the genetic code of the emerging corona virus, which could tip the balance of the dangerous virus.
The researchers reported that the mutation is similar to the changes experienced by scientists in the SARS virus that belongs to the same family, when it exploded in 2003.
And researchers at the University of Arizona, USA. In the USA, they observed that 81 characters disappeared in the genomes of the Corona virus, which could change their behavior and make it more or less virulent, according to Sky News.
But the good indicator in the study is that a similar mutation in the SARS virus occurred years ago, and its ability to spread among humans has weakened.
Mutations are changes in the genetic makeup of living things that are passed on to future generations, and are more common in viruses that develop based on host resistance to them.
The team was conducting a study on the influenza virus, but changed its course to the crown after the disease broke out in the United States and infected hundreds of thousands.
The team was able to identify the genetic makeup of the emerging corona virus, by analyzing samples taken from some patients, which allowed them to identify some 30,000 characters from their genetic code.
But by comparing these new findings to a previously discovered genetic sequence of the virus, the researchers found that 81 genetic characters have “disappeared,” according to the American Medical Journal of Fireology.
These mutations are of great importance because they occurred for the SARS virus and reduced its ability to spread, said Assistant Professor at Arizona State University School of Life Sciences and head of the research team, Ephrem Lim.
These mutations may help to better understand the emerging coronavirus and may contribute to the development of drugs or vaccines against it, but further studies are needed.
