LONDON (Reuters) – A series of studies of the genomes of thousands of samples of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 show that it is mutating and developing as it adapts to its human hosts.
Here’s what professionals are stating about those findings and how they might impact the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to establish vaccines and treatments.
WHAT HAVE THE STUDIES FOUND?
Using a database called the International Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States tracked genetic modifications, or mutations, in the “spike” of the brand-new coronavirus – the part that offers it its unique shape.
Their preliminary research discovered 14 such mutations. The researchers stated one, called D614 G, was “of immediate concern” since it seemed emerging as dominant and might make the illness more contagious.
Using the very same GISAID database, a group at University College London in Britain screened the genomes of more than 7,500 infections from contaminated clients around the globe.
The UCL team discovered 198 anomalies in the coronavirus genomes they analysed however said none appear at this phase to be especially worrying.
Another research study by scientists at Britain’s Glasgow University, which likewise analysed anomalies in the genomes of