3 ms·

I agree, but I don't think that's relevant? So I think my terminology was unclear. By "omicron/delta" I meant a recombinant of the omicron spike with the delta

I agree, but I don't think that's relevant? So I think my terminology was unclear. By "omicron/delta" I meant a recombinant of the omicron spike with the delta backbone, the one that apparently happened naturally and Derek Lowe describes as the XD strain. By "omicron/Wuhan" I meant a recombinant of the omicron spike with the Wuhan backbone, which these researchers created in their lab (and I don't believe had any opportunity to occur naturally, since the two lineages never existed simultaneously).

Izkata 4y ago
> since the two lineages never existed simultaneously Some version of it would likely have existed in the rat-origin theory of Omicron as an intermediate stage, is what I meant.
- tripletao 4y ago
  Ah, got it now. Then I guess the rats (or other cryptic hosts in which omicron evolved) might have been exposed to the omicron/Wuhan recombinant, but not humans.