Science explains the 'extreme' evolutionary rate of the SARS-CoV-2 mutation

According to scientists, part of the success of this virus strain is its constant self-renewal, which is reflected in the rate of reproduction of a series of new variants.

Raging around the world for the past 3 years, SARS-CoV-2 has so far been recognized as one of the most dangerous and feared viruses in history.

SARS-CoV-2 took only 6 weeks to give birth to a new variant.

According to researcher Sebastian Duchene from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Australia, while it normally takes a virus at least a year to spawn a new variant with continuity, SARS-CoV-2 does. in just 6 weeks.

In a new study, Duchene and colleagues sought to investigate where this "proliferation" ability comes from the sequence of available SARS-CoV-2 genomes and variants of interest. .

The results show that with variants like Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, they get a lot of spikes in a relatively short time frame. In addition, each mutation can change structures such as the ability to infect, reproduce, the degree of physical impact of the variant .

"The number of mutations observed was much higher than we expected," emphasized Duchene. "The background substitution rate of SARS-CoV-2 suggests that the virus accumulates about 2 mutations per month."

The emergence of these variations is likely due to natural selection, the researchers say, when so many other factors can at play, such as the environment, temperature, climate, and immunity. and global vaccination rates. A simple case, such as a persistent infection in specific immunocompromised individuals, can also lead to the dynamics that cause the virus to change properties.

"While there's still a lot we don't fully understand about what causes so many of the rapid mutations of SARS-CoV-2, the fact that we can see and track this happening means that that monitoring the viral genome is very important," Duchene said.

The Australian researcher claims that if this is captured, the results obtained could give us the opportunity to prevent the next wave - rather than just respond to them.

"Imagine if you could detect Omicrons in the first few patients - if you could stop them from spreading from there, we wouldn't be where we are now."