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7 Virus Variants Found in U.S. Carrying the Same Mutation
Posted February 14, 2021 2:19 p.m. EST
Updated February 15, 2021 9:38 a.m. EST
By Carl Zimmer, New York Times
As Americans anxiously watch variants first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa spread in the United States, scientists are finding a number of new variants that originated here. More concerning, many of these variants seem to be evolving in the same direction — potentially becoming contagious threats of their own.
In a study posted Sunday, a team of researchers reported seven growing lineages of the novel coronavirus, spotted in states across the country. All of them have evolved a mutation in the same genetic letter.
“There’s clearly something going on with this mutation,” said Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport and a co-author of the new study.
It’s unclear whether it makes the variants more contagious. But because the mutation appears in a gene that influences how the virus enters human cells, the scientists are highly suspicious.
“I think there’s a clear signature of an evolutionary benefit,” Kamil said.
....
Investigating these mutant viruses, Kamil realized they all belonged to the same lineage. The earliest virus in the lineage dated to Dec. 1. In later weeks, it grew more common.
On the evening of his discovery, Kamil uploaded the genomes of the viruses to an online database used by scientists across the world. The next morning, he got an email from Daryl Domman of the University of New Mexico. He and his colleagues had just found the same variant in their state, with the same 677 mutation. Their samples dated to October.
The scientists wondered whether the lineage they had discovered was the only one to have a 677 mutation. Probing the database, Kamil and his colleagues found six other lineages that independently gained the same mutation on their own.
....:tiphat:https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/7-virus-variants-found-in-u-s-carrying-the-same-mutation/19526940/
Posted February 14, 2021 2:19 p.m. EST
Updated February 15, 2021 9:38 a.m. EST
By Carl Zimmer, New York Times
As Americans anxiously watch variants first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa spread in the United States, scientists are finding a number of new variants that originated here. More concerning, many of these variants seem to be evolving in the same direction — potentially becoming contagious threats of their own.
In a study posted Sunday, a team of researchers reported seven growing lineages of the novel coronavirus, spotted in states across the country. All of them have evolved a mutation in the same genetic letter.
“There’s clearly something going on with this mutation,” said Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport and a co-author of the new study.
It’s unclear whether it makes the variants more contagious. But because the mutation appears in a gene that influences how the virus enters human cells, the scientists are highly suspicious.
“I think there’s a clear signature of an evolutionary benefit,” Kamil said.
....
Investigating these mutant viruses, Kamil realized they all belonged to the same lineage. The earliest virus in the lineage dated to Dec. 1. In later weeks, it grew more common.
On the evening of his discovery, Kamil uploaded the genomes of the viruses to an online database used by scientists across the world. The next morning, he got an email from Daryl Domman of the University of New Mexico. He and his colleagues had just found the same variant in their state, with the same 677 mutation. Their samples dated to October.
The scientists wondered whether the lineage they had discovered was the only one to have a 677 mutation. Probing the database, Kamil and his colleagues found six other lineages that independently gained the same mutation on their own.
....:tiphat:https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/7-virus-variants-found-in-u-s-carrying-the-same-mutation/19526940/