02/09/2020 - 11:01
Clarín.com
Society
The coronavirus is one and not just one.
Science has already identified some 35,000 genomic sequences belonging to a myriad of different strains, which in turn come from
at least 80 SARS-CoV2 lineages
.
Now, the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta detected a mutated variant of the coronavirus in Indonesia that is considered
more infectious
than the original strain found in Wuhan, China.
The mutation, known as D614G, has been found in eight of the 22 whole genome sequences reported in Indonesia, said the president of the Eijkman Institute, Amin Soebandrio.
He added that researchers had yet to estimate the percentage of infected people who carried the mutated variant, but Amin believes that the mutated strain
had spread to the majority of patients in the country
.
"Currently, D614G represents almost 40% of the genomes reported in Indonesia, but if we analyze more samples, we could get clearer information," said Amin.
The researcher added that the mutated virus was
10 times more transferable from one cell to another
than the original strain found in China.
However, that conclusion was so far limited to cells in laboratory cultures.
"More studies are needed to find out if this also occurs in humans."
Amin also said that more studies are needed to confirm increased severity or any new symptoms possibly caused by the mutated variant.
He added that the mutation
would not affect the efficacy of potential vaccines
currently being tested, as it does not alter the receptor-binding domain of the virus that allows the virus to infect cells.
Most vaccines in development target this part of the coronavirus.
“We will continue to carry out the entire genome sequencing process to understand the characteristics of the mutation.
These sequences are important epidemiological data to
track the mobility of the virus,
”said Amin.
The D614G strain was first detected in Germany in late January and is commonly found in the United States and Europe.
It was also recently detected in Malaysia, and reported by health authorities in four cases from two groups in the country.
In an article titled "Tracking changes in the SARS-CoV-2 peak: Evidence that D614G increases the infectivity of the COVID-19 virus," researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States said that "the variant that carries the D614G peak mutation became the globally dominant form of SARS-CoV-2 ”within a month.
Mutations are common in viruses.
“These viruses, and more emphatically those with the RNA genome,
have a tendency to change their genome
thanks to the appearance of mutations.
Mutations are generally mistakes that are made during replication.
As such, they can be beneficial or harmful ”,
Jorge Quarleri, biochemist, UBA doctor dedicated to microbiology and principal investigator at Conicet with work headquarters at the Institute for Biomedical Research in Retroviruses and AIDS (INBIRS)
, had explained to
Clarín
.