The novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan is continuing its killing spree in all nooks of the world, and the pandemic has already claimed the lives of more than 6,31,030 people worldwide. In the initial days of the outbreak, the pandemic spread was majorly confined to China and Italy, but soon, this pathogen started spreading to all countries in the world.
Now, Professor Nick Loman of the University of Birmingham has revealed that a new coronavirus mutation has emerged as the dominant strain and it is causing the pandemic to spread quickly across the globe.
Coronavirus D614G Mutation
Loman who is also part of the COVID-19 Genomics Consortium told BBC that the mutation known as D614G is forming clusters more quickly than the original virus from Wuhan. According to Loman, the new conclusion has been made after analyzing more than 40,000 genomes in the United Kingdom. Researchers who took part in the study found that D614G mainly increases transmission in human cases.
"It exists in the spike protein, which is a very important way that the coronavirus can enter human cells, and we have been noticing in the UK and worldwide that this mutation has been increasing in frequency. This mutation was predicted first by computer modeling to have some impact on the structure of that protein and the ability of the virus to bind and enter cells and then quite recently was shown in laboratory experiments to increase the infectivity of cells," said Loman.
Loman revealed that the D614G mutation is the most dominant mutation, accounting for 75 percent of the total cases. However, the new mutation is not believed to cause a greater risk of death among victims, The Telegraph reports.
Coronavirus Mutated to More than 30 Different Strains
A few days back, another study conducted by researchers at the Zhejiang University in China had suggested that the entire global healthcare sector had underestimated the mutation capabilities of coronavirus. According to the study report, coronavirus has already mutated to more than 30 different strains.
The study report shocked medical experts and they believe that finding an overall cure for COVID-19 could be difficult, as different strains of the virus might have affected people in various parts of the globe.
