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Coronavirus is mutating: Chinese scientists find a second strain of Covid-19
- throwaway3157 7y agoIs this fairly common / expected? The article makes this seem expected
- rolph 7y agoYes. the virus uses RNA to keep its code, RNA is error prone. so the code shifts gradually everytime it replicates, usually its not a big deal, but if by chance just the right point mutation, or a long series of them accumulate, there can be major changes in the character of the virus, such as how catching is it, what cells it goes after, what kind of animals/hosts it can infect.
- fspeech 7y agoThe main point of the finding is actually there were two strains to begin with. Each strain may create different pattern of transmission. See the original here https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nwaa036/5775463 https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nsr...
- DrScump 7y agoSo, do the famous test kits show positive for either strain or just one? If either, does it distinguish between the two for independent reporting?
- fspeech 7y agoThese cases were first identified through the test kits, so apparently the tests do catch both strains. Since the difference is only a single nucleotide the tests can not distinguish between the two. This study uses results from full genome sequencing, which is much more laborious and less frequently done.