A form of the novel coronavirus which has become the dominant type in much of the world may have done so thanks to a mutation that allows it to better latch onto human hosts’ cells, new research indicates.
Lab tests performed by US-based Scripps Research, in a study which has not yet been peer-reviewed, showed that this isolate of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (as the coronavirus is officially known) was much more infectious than others when introduced to cell cultures.
Researchers said the Spike D614G mutation, which has proliferated around the world, has sturdier spikes — the projections on the virus’s body through which it attaches to cells and which give the virus its “crown,” or “corona” — than the original Wuhan strain.
Virus particles with the mutation thus tended to have 4 to 5 times the number of functional spikes, enabling them to more easily bind to cells.
“Viruses with this mutation were much more infectious than those without the mutation in the cell culture system we used,” Scripps Research virologist Hyeryun Choe, who led the study, said.
Specifically, they were “nearly 10 times more infectious in the cell culture system that we used.”
The D614G mutation has been the most widely-observed form in North America and Europe. Study co-author Michael Farzan said the form first appeared in a global database in February, and by May was present in 70 percent of uploaded samples.
“Over time, it has figured out how to hold on better and not fall apart until it needs to,” Farzan says. “The virus has, under selection pressure, made itself more stable.”
Image Credit: AP
Thanks to Heinz V. Hoenen. Follow him on twitter: @HeinzVHoenen
News This Week
Warning of serious brain disorders in people with mild coronavirus symptoms
Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by coronavirus, as they emerge in mildly affected or recovering patients, scientists have warned. Neurologists are on Wednesday publishing details of [...]
Nanoparticles Offer a Promising Way for Treating Cancer, Liver Disorders
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have developed a safer and more efficient way to deliver a promising new method for treating cancer and liver disorders and for vaccination -- including a COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna [...]
Covid-19 vaccines may be stifled by pre-existing antibodies
Despite its advantages over other vaccine technologies for Covid-19, adenovirus vector vaccines are likely to be tripped up by pre-existing antibodies to the vectors used and the need for a second injection to boost [...]
This coronavirus mutation has taken over the world. Scientists are trying to understand why.
When the first coronavirus cases in Chicago appeared in January, they bore the same genetic signatures as a germ that emerged in China weeks before. But as Egon Ozer, an infectious-disease specialist at the Northwestern University [...]
Online Special Edition “NanoScientific Symposium on Nano Applications”
Park Systems presents “NanoScientific Symposium on Nano Applications for a Changing World” sponsored by Physics World and Nanotechnology World Association. Park Systems launched this online event for researchers and scientists in nanoscience and nanotechnology [...]
Medical nanotechnology research for COVID-19
Notwithstanding the wishful thinking of certain irresponsible and incompetent public figures, the only options to control and deal with the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are fast, cheap, reliable, [...]
COVID ‐19: A new paper on the global threat to the nervous system
From the Annals of Neurology: In less than 6 months, the severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronavirus type 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has spread worldwide infecting nearly 6 million people and killing over 350,000. Initially thought to be restricted [...]
Steroid found to help prevent deaths of sickest coronavirus patients
A cheap steroid has become the first life-saving treatment in the Covid-19 pandemic, described by scientists as a major breakthrough and raising hopes for the survival of thousands of the most seriously ill. Dexamethasone [...]
Imperial to begin first human trials of new COVID-19 vaccine
Clinical researchers are this week set to begin human trials of a new coronavirus vaccine developed by researchers at Imperial College London. The study will be the first time the vaccine has been trialled in humans [...]
Study: Dominant form of virus ‘10 times’ more infectious than original strain
A form of the novel coronavirus which has become the dominant type in much of the world may have done so thanks to a mutation that allows it to better latch onto human hosts’ [...]
Widely available indigestion drug may curb COVID-19 symptoms in mild to moderate disease
A widely available and inexpensive drug that is used to ease the symptoms of indigestion may prove a worthy contender for treating COVID-19 infection in those whose disease doesn’t require admission to hospital, suggest [...]
Ohio State researchers testing breathalyzer to detect COVID-19
One of the most common COVID-19 tests involves a long swab pressed deep into the nasal cavities – and while the test can be administered quickly, it has been described as unpleasant and uncomfortable. [...]
Coronavirus research updates: Positive coronavirus test is no guarantee of infectiousness
Nature wades through the literature on the new coronavirus — and summarizes key papers as they appear: 1 June — Positive coronavirus test is no guarantee of infectiousness People with COVID-19 are unlikely to [...]
Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything
In April, blood clots emerged as one of the many mysterious symptoms attributed to Covid-19, a disease that had initially been thought to largely affect the lungs in the form of pneumonia. Quickly after came [...]
Researchers develop experimental rapid COVID-19 test using nanoparticle technique
Scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) developed an experimental diagnostic test for COVID-19 that can visually detect the presence of the virus in 10 minutes. It uses a simple assay [...]
Researchers flag similarities between COVID-19 deaths and severe rheumatic illnesses
Rheumatologists at the University of Alberta are flagging similarities between the deaths of some COVID-19 patients and those with rheumatic illnesses, and are testing proven rheumatic treatments to see whether they help against [...]
