Scientists find silent mutations that allowed novel coronavirus to spread among humans
4 years, 2 months ago

Scientists find silent mutations that allowed novel coronavirus to spread among humans

Firstpost  

Silent mutations are changes in the DNA or nucleotide sequence of an organism that do not cause a visible change in the organism COVID-19 was first reported in December 2019 and SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of the disease, is believed to have jumped from an animal to humans. Even after about 10 months, scientists are not sure what caused the disease to jump from animals to humans although some previous studies have suggested that it may be a single mutation inside the spike protein. Now, Dr Alejandro Berrio, a postdoctoral associate at Duke University, and his colleagues claim that they have found a number of silent mutations inside the genome of SARS-CoV-2 that explain how the virus jumped from animals to humans and spread so quickly. The authors also suggested that Nsp4 and Nsp16 show up in the body even before the spike protein so these can be a good drug target to fight the virus early on in the infection.

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History of this topic

What Makes Covid-19 Severe? Study Uncovers Role Of Virus Proteins Other Than Spike
2 years, 2 months ago

What Makes Covid-19 Severe? Study Uncovers Role Of Virus Proteins Other Than Spike

ABP News  

The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the causative organism of Covid-19, plays a vital role in the process of virus invasion by binding to the host cell receptor and inducing virus-cell membrane fusion. The researchers recreated viruses missing each of four accessory proteins and then infected mice with these new viruses or the original virus, in order to find out the …

Coronavirus | Omicron variant puts spotlight back on safety
3 years, 1 month ago

Coronavirus | Omicron variant puts spotlight back on safety

The Hindu  

Omicron, which is the most mutated form of COVID-19 discovered thus far with 32 mutations to the spike protein, has scientists worried that the mutations may now allow it to evade existing vaccines and spread quickly. It’s too early to understand the impact of this new mutation.’’ Vidya P. Taneja, senior consultant, pediatrics, Aartas Clinishare, Delhi, said that the new …

Omicron: Heavy Mutations Don't Always Make a Virus Deadlier But Need High Vigilance, Says ICMR Scientist
3 years, 1 month ago

Omicron: Heavy Mutations Don't Always Make a Virus Deadlier But Need High Vigilance, Says ICMR Scientist

News 18  

Virus with “heavy mutations” doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be lethal, but there is high need for vigilance, ICMR scientist Dr Samiran Panda told News18.com. A new coronavirus variant — B.1.1.529, officially named ‘Omicron’ by WHO — has been red-flagged by scientists due to an alarmingly high number of mutations, expecting that the heavy mutations might make the virus …

Explainer: New COVID–19 infections cause mutations and are the main driver of new variants, not vaccines
3 years, 3 months ago

Explainer: New COVID–19 infections cause mutations and are the main driver of new variants, not vaccines

Firstpost  

Nearly all mutations that occur are harmless glitches that don’t change how the virus works – some can harm the virus while a small fraction may make the virus more infectious. But how mutations, random chance and natural selection produce variants is a complicated process, and there has been a lot of confusion about how and why new variants emerge. …

What is the C.1.2 coronavirus variant — and should we be worried?
3 years, 4 months ago

What is the C.1.2 coronavirus variant — and should we be worried?

LA Times  

Residents from the Alexandra township in Johannesburg gather in a stadium to be tested for COVID-19. Scientists have been conducting genomic surveillance on samples from routine coronavirus tests conducted in public and private labs in South Africa — and in C.1.2 they’ve found a collection of worrisome mutations that, in other variants of concern and variants of interest, are thought …

Coronavirus N protein plays critical role in viral transmission, says IISER Bhopal's research
3 years, 8 months ago

Coronavirus N protein plays critical role in viral transmission, says IISER Bhopal's research

India Today  

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal have shown that proteins from the Covid-19 virus other than the well-known ‘spike protein’ can play a critical role in the infectivity of the virus. Since the virus is highly infectious, most studies do not use the live virus, but use a similar protein capsule made up of spike …

Coronavirus | Indian ‘double mutant’ strain named B.1.617
3 years, 9 months ago

Coronavirus | Indian ‘double mutant’ strain named B.1.617

The Hindu  

The ‘double mutant’ virus that scientists had flagged last month as having a bearing on the spread of the pandemic in India, has a formal scientific classification: B.1.617. Other than a place on the coronavirus’s evolutionary history, it also brings focus on the role the variant may be playing in the pandemic, which is now seeing nearly 100,000 fresh infections …

Virus mutations of COVID-19 pose a challenge as latest wave of coronavirus infection in India highlights need to ramp up genome sequencing efforts
3 years, 9 months ago

Virus mutations of COVID-19 pose a challenge as latest wave of coronavirus infection in India highlights need to ramp up genome sequencing efforts

The Hindu  

AFTER touching the lowest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at around 9,100 on February 9, India is witnessing a continuous and worrisome increase. However, according to a recent work by a group of scientists from Seattle, Washington State, which was posted in the online preprint database bioRxiv, the site E484 in the receptor binding domain of the S protein appears …

Coronavirus | India reports unique ‘double mutant’ coronavirus variant
3 years, 9 months ago

Coronavirus | India reports unique ‘double mutant’ coronavirus variant

The Hindu  

A unique “double mutant” coronavirus variant — with a combination of mutations not seen anywhere else in the world — has been found in India, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Genome sequencing of a section of virus samples by a consortium of 10 labs across the country, called the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics, revealed the presence of two …

Faster spread of some coronavirus variants could be due to sturdier protein, say scientists
3 years, 9 months ago

Faster spread of some coronavirus variants could be due to sturdier protein, say scientists

India TV News  

The spike protein of the novel coronavirus, which enables it to infect human cells, is more stable in faster spreading versions of the virus, such as the ones first reported in the UK and South Africa, compared to the original form of the pathogen from Wuhan, China, says a new study. The results, published in the journal Science, showed that …

Coronavirus jumped from bats to humans with 'very little change', say scientists
3 years, 9 months ago

Coronavirus jumped from bats to humans with 'very little change', say scientists

India Today  

The progenitor of the novel coronavirus underwent "very little change" to adapt to humans from bats, according to a new study which suggests that the ability of the virus to spread from one person to another likely evolved in the flying mammal prior to it jumping to its new human host. "Usually viruses that jump to a new host species …

New York’s new coronavirus variant is worrying researchers
3 years, 10 months ago

New York’s new coronavirus variant is worrying researchers

CNN  

CNN — Two separate teams of researchers saidthis week they have found a worrying new coronavirus variant in New York City and elsewhere in the Northeast that carries mutations that help it evade the body’s natural immune response – as well as the effects of monoclonal antibody treatments. It appears in people affected in diverse neighborhoods of New York City, …

Coronavirus | Challenges in developing, testing vaccines against variants
3 years, 10 months ago

Coronavirus | Challenges in developing, testing vaccines against variants

The Hindu  

With the emergence of three variants — B.1.1.7 first found in Britain, B.1.1.248 first seen in Brazil, and B.1.351 first detected in South Africa — less than two months after the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use by the U.S. FDA, all companies have begun making booster shots or tweaking the existing vaccine based on the new variants. …

COVID-19 variant N440K spreading more in southern states: CSIR-CCMB
3 years, 10 months ago

COVID-19 variant N440K spreading more in southern states: CSIR-CCMB

India TV News  

The Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology said there is emerging evidence that coronavirus variant N440K is spreading "a lot more" in southern states in the country. More coronavirus genomes need to be sequenced across the country to accurately identify the emergence of these and other new variants", said Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, CCMB and corresponding author on the …

Mutation in spike protein makes coronavirus eight times more infectious, finds NYU study
3 years, 10 months ago

Mutation in spike protein makes coronavirus eight times more infectious, finds NYU study

Firstpost  

Researchers noted that the D614G mutation in the coronavirus spike protein likely emerged in early 2020, and is now the most prevalent and dominant form of the virus in many countries around the world New York: The D614G mutation in the spike protein of the novel coronavirus renders it up to eight times more infectious in human cells than the …

Batch of homegrown coronavirus mutations seen in US
3 years, 10 months ago

Batch of homegrown coronavirus mutations seen in US

CNN  

CNN — Researchers said Sunday they have identified a batch of similar troubling mutations in coronavirus samples circulating in the United States. “In late January of 2021, our two independent SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance programs, based at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, each noticed …

Pfizer Vaccine Can Neutralise Coronavirus Variants First Reported in UK, South Africa: Study
3 years, 11 months ago

Pfizer Vaccine Can Neutralise Coronavirus Variants First Reported in UK, South Africa: Study

News 18  

The COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the German biotechnology company BioNTech can neutralise variants of the novel coronavirus that were first reported in the UK and South Africa, a new study suggests. They said these mutations in the 501st and 484th positions of the protein's amino acid molecule chain appeared in the UK and the …

Coronavirus | Pfizer vaccine can neutralise variants first reported in U.K., South Africa: study
3 years, 11 months ago

Coronavirus | Pfizer vaccine can neutralise variants first reported in U.K., South Africa: study

The Hindu  

The COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the German biotechnology company BioNTech can neutralise variants of the novel coronavirus that were first reported in the U.K. and South Africa, a new study suggests. They said these mutations in the 501st and 484th positions of the protein's amino acid molecule chain appeared in the U.K. and the …

Coronavirus variants, viral mutation and vaccines: The science you need to understand
3 years, 11 months ago

Coronavirus variants, viral mutation and vaccines: The science you need to understand

Firstpost  

The SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates fast. That’s a concern because these more transmissible variants of SARS-CoV-2 are now present in the US, UK and South Africa and other countries, and many people are wondering whether the current vaccines will protect the recipients from the virus. A single change in the spike protein – which is the region of the virus that …

Decoding how coronavirus mutates
3 years, 11 months ago

Decoding how coronavirus mutates

The Hindu  

Scientists have identified a pattern of mutations in the novel coronavirus which enable it to evade the immune system’s antibodies, findings that shed light on how the virus may possibly escape existing vaccines and therapeutics. The study, published in the journal Science, assessed nearly 1,50,000 gene sequences of the spike protein collected from many parts of the world, and found …

Coronavirus confusion: What’s the difference between a variant and a strain?
3 years, 11 months ago

Coronavirus confusion: What’s the difference between a variant and a strain?

LA Times  

An image of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus particles as seen under an electron microscope. Geneticists call this a “founder effect.” When a mutation changes a virus’ genome, it becomes a new variant. Here’s how a group of scientists explained the predicament in a 2013 article in the journal Archives of Virology, in which they spelled out what to call members of the …

A new COVID-19 challenge: Mutations rise along with cases
3 years, 11 months ago

A new COVID-19 challenge: Mutations rise along with cases

LA Times  

A pharmacist prepares a dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. “The best way to prevent mutant strains from emerging is to slow transmission.” So far, vaccines seem to remain effective, but there are signs that some of the new mutations may undermine tests for the virus and reduce the effectiveness of antibody drugs as treatments. “We’re in a race against time” …

How Scientists Trace New Coronavirus Variants
3 years, 11 months ago

How Scientists Trace New Coronavirus Variants

NPR  

How Scientists Trace New Coronavirus Variants NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with biologists Pardis Sabeti and Sharon Peacock about how genomic sequencing was used in the U.K. to trace a new coronavirus variant and what the U.S. can learn from it. Pardis Sabeti is a computational biologist at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts, and Sharon Peacock is the director of the …

Fear over new coronavirus mutations, is this the the calm before the storm?"
4 years ago

Fear over new coronavirus mutations, is this the the calm before the storm?"

NL Times  

The South African variant of the coronavirus has also been identified in the Netherlands, confirmed the public health institute RIVM on Thursday. We don’t know yet.” Fear over South African variant Much is still unclear about the British variant. We have no evidence that the mutations also show a more serious disease trajectory.” According to Timen, we need to prepare …

Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine appears effective against mutation in new coronavirus variants: study
4 years ago

Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine appears effective against mutation in new coronavirus variants: study

The Hindu  

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appeared to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the U.K. and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker. The not-yet peer reviewed study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch indicated the vaccine was effective …

Why Viruses Mutate: Breaking Down The New Coronavirus Variant
4 years ago

Why Viruses Mutate: Breaking Down The New Coronavirus Variant

NPR  

Why Viruses Mutate: Breaking Down The New Coronavirus Variant With new variant in the coronavirus cropping up in several states, we take a look at how viruses mutate and how those mutations can make the coronavirus more contagious. Now health officials have detected the new variant of the virus first seen in the U.K. in California, Colorado and Florida. He …

New covid-19 strains: What scientists know about coronavirus variants
4 years ago

New covid-19 strains: What scientists know about coronavirus variants

Live Mint  

Scientists around the world are scrambling to learn more about previously unknown variants of the coronavirus that seem to spread from person to person more readily than other versions of the Covid-19-causing pathogen. Some doctors worry that the new variants of the coronavirus could supercharge the spread of Covid-19, putting additional stress on hospitals and nursing homes when cases are …

Here’s a Plan to Stop the Coronavirus From Mutating
4 years ago

Here’s a Plan to Stop the Coronavirus From Mutating

Wired  

When the pandemic virus emerged a year ago, one refrain from scientists provided reassurance: It’s not mutating so quickly—the pathogen looks pretty stable. Sequencing data from that nation described in a research manuscript posted online but not yet formally published in a scientific journal suggests that a widespread variant of the virus accumulated 17 new mutations in a short time …

Opinion: Here’s what’s worrying about the coronavirus variant
4 years ago

Opinion: Here’s what’s worrying about the coronavirus variant

CNN  

Editor’s Note: William Haseltine, PhD, is chair and president of the global health think tank, ACCESS Health International. CNN — The UK government has sounded the alarm about a variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – which appears to sp William Haseltine Courtesy of William Haseltine While much is still unknown, what we do know about …

Coronavirus | U.K. strain unlikely to affect efficacy of vaccines, say scientists
4 years ago

Coronavirus | U.K. strain unlikely to affect efficacy of vaccines, say scientists

The Hindu  

The faster spreading coronavirus strain first detected in the U.K. is unlikely to make vaccines less effective as of now but the preventives may need to be appropriately altered if more mutations occur over time, say scientists. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control announced on Sunday that the rapid increase of a SARS-CoV-2 variant with multiple spike protein …

Coronavirus | N501Y mutation in SARS-CoV-2 virus causes increased infectivity in mice: researchers
4 years ago

Coronavirus | N501Y mutation in SARS-CoV-2 virus causes increased infectivity in mice: researchers

The Hindu  

In a preliminary report posted on December 19, Dr. Andrew Rambaut from the University of Edinburgh and others from the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium say that the new variant has been spreading “rapidly” over the last four weeks. Though no studies have so far been done in humans to assess if the new variant increases the severity of COVID-19 disease, …

What is The New Coronavirus Strain and is The Mutation More Dangerous? All Your Questions Answered
4 years ago

What is The New Coronavirus Strain and is The Mutation More Dangerous? All Your Questions Answered

News 18  

There is growing alarm across the globe after scientists in UK described a newly identified variant of the coronavirus that appears to be more contagious than, and genetically distinct from, more established variants. But there are still several unanswered questions that are multiplying as fast as new strain of the virus: Does it make people sicker or does it mean …

Mutant Coronavirus strain found in UK: Is it more dangerous, what does it mean for vaccine, and other FAQs answered
4 years ago

Mutant Coronavirus strain found in UK: Is it more dangerous, what does it mean for vaccine, and other FAQs answered

Firstpost  

It is anticipated that the vaccine’s efficacy will not be significantly hampered by mutations of the Coronavirus strain. The variant carries 14 defining mutations including seven in the spike protein, the protein that mediates entry of the virus into human cells. Thanks to the efforts of data sharing, genomic surveillance and COVID-19 test results in the UK, it seems that …

There's a new coronavirus variant. This is what we know so far
4 years ago

There's a new coronavirus variant. This is what we know so far

ABC  

A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is thought to be driving increased transmission of the disease in parts of the UK. Thanks to the efforts of data sharing, genomic surveillance and COVID-19 test results in the UK, it seems that this variant is now starting to dominate over existing versions of the virus and that it …

British scientists find changes in coronavirus that may make it more infectious
4 years ago

British scientists find changes in coronavirus that may make it more infectious

LA Times  

Britain’s Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, updates MPs in the House of Commons in London on Dec. 14 about a new version of the coronavirus that seems to sp In the United Kingdom and several other countries, a disconcerting cluster of genetic changes has been detected in the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, prompting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to all but …

New coronavirus strain spreading in UK has key mutations, scientists say
4 years ago

New coronavirus strain spreading in UK has key mutations, scientists say

The Hindu  

British scientists are trying to establish whether the rapid spread in southern England of a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to key mutations they have detected in the strain, they said on Tuesday. The mutations include changes to the important “spike” protein that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses to infect human cells, a group of scientists …

‘Animals most susceptible to coronavirus infection after humans’
4 years ago

‘Animals most susceptible to coronavirus infection after humans’

Hindustan Times  

Humans, followed by ferrets, and to a lesser extent cats, civets and dogs are the animals most likely to be infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a new study which analysed ten different species for their susceptibility to the virus which causes Covid-19. The findings, published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, found that ducks, rats, mice, pigs and …

Know how the novel coronavirus has evolved
4 years ago

Know how the novel coronavirus has evolved

Hindustan Times  

As the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has swept across the world, killing more than 1.5 million people over the past year, it has mutated into seven major groups, or strains, as it adapted to its human hosts. Reuters analysed over 185,000 genome samples from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, the largest database of novel coronavirus genome sequences in the …

Novel Coronavirus Mutations Do Not Appear to Increase Transmissibility: Study
4 years, 1 month ago

Novel Coronavirus Mutations Do Not Appear to Increase Transmissibility: Study

News 18  

The mutations currently documented in the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19 do not appear to increase its transmissibility in humans, according to a study which analysed samples of the virus from more than 46,000 individuals across the world. "We realised early on in the pandemic that we needed new approaches to analyse enormous amounts of data in close to real …

Coronavirus mutations not leading to increase in spread of infection, says study
4 years, 1 month ago

Coronavirus mutations not leading to increase in spread of infection, says study

India Today  

None of the documented mutations of the novel coronavirus seem to be increasing its spread, a new study suggests. One of the co-lead researchers of the study, Lucy van Dorp told Reuters, "Fortunately, we found that none of these mutations are making COVID-19 sp However, a professor at the University College London's Genetics Institute, Lucy van Dorp added that scientists …

No evidence to suggest coronavirus cluster 5 variant found in minks increases virus transmissibility, disease severity
4 years, 2 months ago

No evidence to suggest coronavirus cluster 5 variant found in minks increases virus transmissibility, disease severity

The Hindu  

Since June, 214 people in Denmark have been reported to have been infected with a variant of the novel coronavirus associated with farmed minks. Preliminary findings indicate that this particular mink-associated variant identified in both minks and the 12 human cases has moderately decreased sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies.” Denmark epidemiologist Kare Molbak said cluster 5 was not more dangerous than …

Mutation in Novel Coronavirus May Have Made it More Contagious: Study
4 years, 2 months ago

Mutation in Novel Coronavirus May Have Made it More Contagious: Study

News 18  

Houston: The novel coronavirus is accumulating genetic mutations, one of which may have made it more contagious, according to a study involving more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients in the US. "The virus is mutating due to a combination of neutral drift — which just means random genetic changes that don't help or hurt the virus — and pressure from our …

Pan-India genome studies found no major mutation in coronavirus, says PMO
4 years, 2 months ago

Pan-India genome studies found no major mutation in coronavirus, says PMO

India Today  

The government on Saturday said two pan-India studies on the genome of the coronavirus in India suggest it is genetically stable and has shown no major mutation. The announcement was made after a review meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Covid-19 pandemic situation, and vaccine delivery, distribution and administration preparedness, This comes even as the work …

Chile Scientists Study Potential Coronavirus Mutation in Remote Patagonia
4 years, 3 months ago

Chile Scientists Study Potential Coronavirus Mutation in Remote Patagonia

News 18  

Scientists in Chile are investigating a possible mutation of the novel coronavirus in southern Patagonia, a far-flung region near the tip of the South American continent that has seen an unusually contagious second wave of infections in recent weeks. The Magallanes region of Chile is largely a remote, glacier-strewn wilderness dotted with small towns and the regional hub Punta Arenas, …

More Contagious Novel Coronavirus Strain Now Dominates, Reveals US Study
4 years, 3 months ago

More Contagious Novel Coronavirus Strain Now Dominates, Reveals US Study

News 18  

The first study to analyze the structure of the novel coronavirus from two waves of infection in a major city found that a more contagious strain dominates recent samples, researchers from Houston Methodist Hospital said on Wednesday. The Houston researchers said patients infected with the variant strain had significantly higher amounts of the virus on initial diagnosis. But they found …

Scientists dispel coronavirus mutation fears, say ’Malaysia strain’ no cause for concern
4 years, 4 months ago

Scientists dispel coronavirus mutation fears, say ’Malaysia strain’ no cause for concern

India TV News  

The mutant form of the novel coronavirus reported from Malaysia as being “10 times more infectious” is not a concern for India as it is widely prevalent here and isn’t any more virulent than the strain originating in Wuhan, says, scientists. "Back in April, if 100 patient samples were analysed in India, 40-50 per cent of them had the G …

More Infectious But Less Deadly Coronavirus Mutation May be 'a Good Thing', Says Disease Expert
4 years, 4 months ago

More Infectious But Less Deadly Coronavirus Mutation May be 'a Good Thing', Says Disease Expert

News 18  

An increasingly common mutation of the novel coronavirus found in Europe, North America and parts of Asia may be more infectious but appears less deadly, according to a prominent infectious diseases doctor. Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the International Society of Infectious Diseases, said evidence suggests the proliferation of the D614G mutation …

Mutated coronavirus may be less deadly, expert suggests
4 years, 4 months ago

Mutated coronavirus may be less deadly, expert suggests

Al Jazeera  

An increasingly common mutation of the novel coronavirus found in Europe, North America and parts of Asia may be more infectious but appears to be less deadly, according to a prominent infectious disease specialist. Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the International Society of Infectious Diseases, said evidence suggests the proliferation of the …

The coronavirus is mutating, just like most viruses, but the effect isn't as pronounced as some headlines suggest
4 years, 4 months ago

The coronavirus is mutating, just like most viruses, but the effect isn't as pronounced as some headlines suggest

ABC  

You may have seen headlines popping up during the pandemic that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has split into "strains" that are more contagious, more virulent or even easier to vaccinate against. For living things made up of cells, like animals, plants, fungi and bacteria, that genetic material is in the form of DNA, and there's a built-in "proofreading" …

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