Mutations: Does SARS-CoV-2 Have a Fixed Number of Moves in Its Arsenal?
05/04/2021
National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins holds a model of SARS-CoV-2 as he testifies on Capitol Hill, July 2, 2020. Photo: Graeme Jennings/Pool via Reuters/File Photo
London/Chicago: The rapid rise in different parts of the world of deadly, more infectious coronavirus variants that share new mutations is leading scientists to ask a critical question – has the SARS-CoV-2 virus shown its best cards?
New variants first detected in such far-flung countries as Brazil, South Africa and Britain cropped up spontaneously within a few months late last year. All three share some of the same mutations in the important spike region of the virus used to enter and infect cells.