Which type of virus has the greatest mutation rates

The Hub spoke with Pekosz for more insights into virus variants, how they emerge, and what can be done to prevent them. We have some ideas, but we don't know everything about what's changed with delta to make it more transmissible. We know that if we look at the spike protein, which is the protein the virus uses to attach to cells and start the infection process, we see that there are mutations that make that protein better at entering human cells. We can also look at the spike protein and see mutations that should reduce the ability of some of the antibodies generated by the vaccine to bind to the virus.

So we think it's also finding ways to get around the immunity that we're generating in the population through vaccination. But the virus also has lots of other mutations in other genes, and we don't know what those mutations might be doing.

So we have some clue as to the changes that are happening, but labs like mine and many others across the country are spending a lot of time trying to figure out what else has changed in this virus to make it more transmissible in the population. But you know, when we look at the changes that are in the spike, some of them are changes that we've seen with other variants at other times.

That gives us the sense that there are a few mutations that give the virus an advantage—they make the virus better at transmitting or they help evade some immune responses that would normally prevent infection.

And therefore those mutations start to appear in the populations that we're sequencing. And again, some of those mutations we've seen in other variants at other times, so it's telling us that the virus is "learning" to optimize the pathway and it's finding the same types of mutations that mediate better entry and better replication. Yes, absolutely. And that's where looking at the virus genome itself only gives us part of the picture.

Oftentimes, other factors include where those mutations occur in the world. Is it occurring at the right time? Is it occurring in a situation where the virus can become dominant? Are there other strains to compete with it at that time? God proclaimed himself to be that Creator Who selects from His own creation. They go side-by-side like night and day to weave the yarn of conscious existence.

The mutation of Covid during recent months is living proof of the inherent processes and systems that God has put in place to safeguard all life forms as a part of His grand design. A greater understanding of the process of mutation demonstrated by this primitive, but lethal life form, gives an insight into the immense power of the Creator and His Prowess to instil masterful biological processes in living beings. Inherent in these primitive life forms are complex biological processes that respond to threat and aid survival.

These protective processes cover the entire span of life, offering advancement and protection along the course of evolution. This is described as an all-pervading law covering the entire scheme of things. She qualified in with gold medals for academic Excellence and undertook her surgical training at major teaching hospitals in London, Edinburgh and Philadelphia.

She has authored many articles for major peer-reviewed scientific journals. Quite insightful and enlightening. To Prof. In light of this, Prof Amtul Razzaq Carmichael takes a deeper look into the the mutation of viruses Viruses are a rudimentary form of life which consist of the extremely basic genetic material.

What is Viral Mutation? How Do Viruses Mutate? Viruses aim to achieve this role by a variety of complex and fast-moving mechanisms; some of these are listed below: Changing the markers by which host defences can recognise viruses, so evading detection the antigenic diversity. Changing to become less harmful a minimization of virulence so that the virus can live in its host without causing illness.

An example is that of hepatitis G virus GB virus C which was initially isolated from patients with liver inflammation, seems to persist in many people without causing illnesses. Developing resistance to the anti-viral drugs. Developing mechanisms to evade host defences mechanisms such as antibodies. If you can get everyone immunity faster than the virus can mutate around the vaccine you stop the spread. And again, I want to make this absolutely clear: the vaccines are necessary.

Vaccines can play a role in dictating which virus mutations are most likely to thrive, but the virus is going to mutate anyway. The faster we get everyone immunized, the less chance the virus has to mutate. If the vaccination rate is 0. Those are the date ranges people have been promised. Those are the date ranges we need to be shooting for. But the more time it takes to vaccinate the population, and the more pressure we apply to the virus, the greater the odds that we see a resistant strain of the virus.

Ideally, once we get a program working in the U. As of last December, we were sequencing 0. That ranked us 43rd in the world.

The U. What percentages of the positive cases should we be sequencing? As a scientist I always want more data, but with so many new daily infections, it becomes hard to take resources away from testing.

But with so many cases and freezer space at a premium right now I can understand why that might not be possible, but one lesson we should have learned from last February and then again from last December, the first case you find is NEVER the first case. In short, yes. However, if someone contracts COVID, there is the possibility that the replicating virus will form mutations. That is true regardless of vaccination status.

This vaccine has not be through the complete testing phase that vaccines are supposed to go through. FDA approved or not does not change the fact that this vaccine is experimental. For all we know this vaccine could cause cancer or worse conditions years later. Hi Connor. Actually, at this point the vaccines have gone through all of the testing phases a vaccine is supposed to go through.

It is impossible to prove a negative, so the way you phrased the question makes it impossible to answer. However, the COVID vaccines have been the subject of intense scrutiny by researchers around the world, from different institutions, different companies, and across a wide range of research disciplines immunology, biomanufacturing, cell biology, toxicology, you name it.

If there was evidence of even the slightest potential for significant harm, we would be hearing about it. You are not immune to the virus if you are vaxed! More importantly, being vaccinated makes you much, MUCH less likely to become seriously ill. Looking at the numbers from spring when vaccines became available through the beginning of July, only 0. In other words, While there is some variability in those percentages from state to state, people are still more likely to contract COVID — and far more likely to become seriously ill — if they have not been vaccinated.

I encourage everyone I know to take steps to reduce their risk of contracting COVID get vaccinated, wear a mask in public places, and maintain social distancing to the extent possible. She pointed to a pre-print paper published in September that identified the 20 mutations most commonly associated with increased infectiousness — eight of those mutations are found in omicron, including all of the top five.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday sfchronicle. Oath Keepers leader arrested on charge of seditious conspiracy involving Jan. Ad Microsoft. Full screen. Slideshow continues on the next slide. Omicron hits the U. Click to expand. Replay Video. Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.

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