🐱👤According to a recent report by the physicist organization network, a new study by British scientists stated that the COVID-19 virus mutates almost once a week, and the mutation rate is more than 50% higher than previously estimated. The emergence of new mutant strains may be more than we thought. Faster.
Previous studies have shown that the COVID-19 virus mutates every two weeks, but new research from scientists at the Milner Evolution Center at the University of Bath and the University of Edinburgh shows that this estimate ignores many mutations that have occurred but have never been sequenced.
The researchers explained that the virus will mutate regularly, for example, when the virus copies its genome, errors will cause the virus to mutate. Some mutations are beneficial to the virus-positive selection and therefore will spread, such as the alpha and gamma mutant strains of the COVID-19 virus. But there are many mutations that are harmful to the virus-negative selection will reduce its chances of survival. These mutations cannot exist in the human body for a long time, and humans have no time to sequence them. Therefore, when calculating the mutation rate of the virus, these mutations will be omitted.
The researchers said that considering these "stealth" mutations, it is estimated that the true mutation rate of the virus is at least 50% higher than previously thought. The findings, published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution, further indicate that if someone’s immune system is unable to control the virus, it is necessary to isolate it.
Professor Lawrence Hirst of the Milner Evolution Center at the University of Bath said: "Our findings mean that if someone is infected with the COVID-19 virus for more than a few weeks, the virus may evolve, which may lead to new mutations. The space for virus evolution is bigger than we thought."
He pointed out: “Alpha mutation is the result of the evolution of the virus in an infected individual. But this is not all bad news, because most people spread and clear the virus before the virus has mutated so much. The chance of evolution in a patient is usually not high."
The research team also tried to clarify the causes of negative choices. They found that most of the negative choices are due to predictable reasons: mutations make genes shorter, or proteins (such as spike proteins) malfunction.
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