The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Covid: Novelli, the extinction of the SarsCoV2 virus is not the end of the pandemic

2021-11-26T08:48:07.859Z


It is possible that the SarsCoV2 virus accumulates harmful mutations up to extinction, but this event (completely random and unlikely) can statistically occur only in a very limited number of cases and therefore cannot have 'turned off' the infection from Covid by itself. -19 across Japan. This is explained by Giuseppe Novelli, geneticist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata (ANSA)


It is possible that the SarsCoV2 virus accumulates harmful mutations up to extinction, but this event (completely random and unlikely) can statistically occur only in a very limited number of cases and therefore cannot have 'turned off' the infection from Covid by itself. -19 throughout Japan. This was explained by Giuseppe Novelli, geneticist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, underlining how the current decline in positives in the Rising Sun is probably due "to a mix of factors that also includes the use of masks and vaccines, crucial for limiting spread of the virus.

The evolution of the viral genome, the expert recalls, is like a very fast Russian roulette wheel in which mutations follow one another randomly.

"Some are useful to the virus, but the vast majority are harmful."

It may therefore happen that in a particular lineage of the virus too many abortive mutations accumulate that lead that specific branch to extinction.

"According to the Japanese researchers led by Ituro Inoue - explains Novelli - the virus has accumulated too many mutations in the nsp14 protein due to the interaction with an enzyme in human cells, Apobec3A, which is very active in defense against viruses: the hypothesis is that Asians may have a form of this enzyme that facilitates the accumulation of errors in viral RNA, but it is still to be demonstrated, since no studies have been published on the matter ”.

If the hypothesis were to be confirmed, it could only be valid for a limited number of cases.

"When we talk about the Delta variant we must remember that we are not talking about a single virus, but about many different subgroups that constantly change from area to area, from person to person: it is possible that one of these strains will become extinct, but it is unlikely that the the same thing happens at the same time even in different stocks ”, observes Novelli.

It is therefore premature to think that what happened in Japan could represent the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

Source: ansa

All tech articles on 2021-11-26

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.