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A study involving more than 5,000 people with kovid-19 in Houston concludes that the virus that causes the disease underwent genetic mutations, one of which contributed to it becoming more contagious. According to a study published in the journal mBio, the D614G mutation is found in a protein in the spikes of the virus through which the pathogen penetrates our cells.
The paper shows that the virus mutates under the influence of a combination of random genetic changes that do not significantly affect or damage the virus and the pressure our immune system exposes it to, explains Ilya Finkelstein, associate professor of molecular biological sciences at the University. from Texas in Austin and co-author. studies.
While in the first wave of the pandemic, 71 percent of the viruses identified in Houston patients had this mutation, in the second wave, this variant reached 99.9 percent, and a corresponding trend was established in others. parts of the world. A study published in July, based on 28,000 genome sequences, showed that virus variants with the D614G mutation became the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2.
Why did that strain of the virus win? Perhaps because it is more contagious. A study of more than 25,000 genome sequences in the United Kingdom has shown that viruses with this mutation are transmitted somewhat faster than those without it and affect the formation of larger groups of infection. Natural selection favors viruses that are more easily transmitted.
Some scientists, however, explain the victory of the strain with the mutation by the fact that the D614G mutation may have been more common in the first viruses that reached Europe and North America, thus having an advantage over other strains. .
The peak protein shows a few more mutations, the influence of which is not yet known. Scientists at the University of Texas have shown in laboratory experiments that at least one of those mutations allows the spike protein to avoid neutralizing the antibodies that people naturally produce to fight SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this way, this variant of the virus can more easily bypass our immune system.
The good news is that this mutation is rare and obviously does not affect the severity of the disease.
– A virus mutates while attacking the entire world. Efforts to monitor in real time, as in the case of our study, will allow vaccines and drugs to always be one step ahead – says this scientist.
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