Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology CCMB

Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology CCMB

Subject: National Organizations

Context: Scientists at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, at the forefront of sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 genome, will culture the double mutant strain B.1.617 and other variants of concern and check if antibodies of vaccinated or recovered persons can neutralise the virus.

Concept :

About Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology:

• The Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) is a premier research organization which conducts high quality basic research and trainings in frontier areas of modern biology, and promote centralized national facilities for new and modern techniques in the interdisciplinary areas of biology.
• It was set up initially as a semi-autonomous Centre on April 1, 1977 with the Biochemistry Division of the then Regional Research Laboratory (presently, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, IICT) Hyderabad.
• It is located in Hyderabad and operates under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• It is designated as “Center of Excellence” by the Global Molecular and Cell Biology Network, UNESCO.

DOUBLE MUTANT VARIANT B.1.617

• The variant is common in India and has a couple of defining mutations, E484Q and L425R, that enable it to become more infectious and evade antibodies.
• Though these mutations have individually been found in several other coronavirus variants, the presence of both mutations together were first found in some coronavirus genomes from India.
• Certain variants of the coronavirus, for instance, B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 — have been termed the “United Kingdom” and “South Africa” variant, respectively, because they have mutations associated with large spikes in these countries or reduce the efficacy of vaccines and are termed “variants of concern (VOC)”.
• So far, only three global VOCs have been identified: the U.K. variant, the South African and the Brazilian (P.1) lineage.