SARS-CoV-2 unique deletion variants found in clinical specimens While participating in the SPHERES Consortium project, US researchers sequenced 2,726 clinical patient specimens gathered in March 2020 and identified eight unique ORF7a deletion variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Their results are currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server. The unwavering coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has to date resulted in more than 73.4 million cases and over 1.63 million deaths worldwide. Although the virus is considered genetically stable, different mutations within its genome have been described. One notable example is deletion variants in the open reading frame (ORF) 7a that may influence virulence, albeit only a handful of such isolates have been reported. SARS-CoV-2 ORF7a (which is the ortholog of SARS-CoV ORF7a) represents a type I transmembrane protein that has a significant role in virus-host interactions.