This Coronavirus Mutation Has Taken Over the World. Scientists Are Trying to Understand Why.
By News
Published 4 years ago on
June 29, 2020
Share
[aggregation-styles]
The Washington Post Subscription
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 Feinberg School of Medicine, examined the genetic structure of virus samples from local patients, he noticed something different.
A change in the virus was appearing again and again. This mutation, associated with outbreaks in Europe and New York, eventually took over the city. By May, it was found in 95 percent of all the genomes Ozer sequenced.
At a glance, the mutation seemed trivial. About 1,300 amino acids serve as building blocks for a protein on the surface of the virus. In the mutant virus, the genetic instructions for just one of those amino acids — number 614 — switched in the new variant from a “D” (shorthand for aspartic acid) to a “G” (short for glycine).
Read More →
The Washington Post Subscription
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 Feinberg School of Medicine, examined the genetic structure of virus samples from local patients, he noticed something different.
A change in the virus was appearing again and again. This mutation, associated with outbreaks in Europe and New York, eventually took over the city. By May, it was found in 95 percent of all the genomes Ozer sequenced.
At a glance, the mutation seemed trivial. About 1,300 amino acids serve as building blocks for a protein on the surface of the virus. In the mutant virus, the genetic instructions for just one of those amino acids — number 614 — switched in the new variant from a “D” (shorthand for aspartic acid) to a “G” (short for glycine).
Read More →
By Sarah Kaplan and Joel Achenbach | 29 June 2020
RELATED TOPICS:
Testifying in Hush Money Trial, Porn Actor Stormy Daniels Describes First Meeting Trump
Politics /
34 mins ago
Ohtani Hits 11th Homer and Buehler Returns as Dodgers Clip Marlins for 4th Straight Win
Sports /
1 hour ago
Police Disperse Pro-Palestinian Student Protest in Berlin Amid Europe-wide Demonstrations
World /
2 hours ago
Thief Uses Sleight of Hand to Swipe $255K Tiffany Ring, Cops Say
Crime /
17 hours ago
California Reports the First Increase in Groundwater Supplies in 4 Years
Water /
18 hours ago
New York Governor Regrets Saying Black Kids in The Bronx Don’t Know What a Computer Is
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she regrets making an offhand remark that suggested Black children in the Bronx do not know w...
Politics /
12 mins ago
Categories
Latest
Videos
Politics /
12 mins ago
New York Governor Regrets Saying Black Kids in The Bronx Don’t Know What a Computer Is
National /
18 mins ago
Boy Scouts of America Changing Name to More Inclusive Scouting America After Years of Woes
World /
26 mins ago
Israeli Forces Seize Rafah Crossing in Gaza, Threatening Aid and Putting Cease-Fire Talks on Edge
Politics /
35 mins ago
Testifying in Hush Money Trial, Porn Actor Stormy Daniels Describes First Meeting Trump
Sports /
1 hour ago
Ohtani Hits 11th Homer and Buehler Returns as Dodgers Clip Marlins for 4th Straight Win
World /
2 hours ago