NEW VARIANT T478K: MOSTLY FOUND IN MEXICO ALSO FOUND IN EUROPE

NEW VARIANT T478K: MOSTLY FOUND IN MEXICO ALSO FOUND IN EUROPE

Subject: Science & tech

Context: An analysis of more than one million SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences has led to the identification of a new variant that, over the past weeks, has been spreading mostly in Mexico but has also been found in Europe.

Concept:

• Biotechnologists of the University of Bologna have published their paper in the Journal of Medical Virology, describing the new variant, whose scientific name is T478K. Like other strains, this presents a mutation in the spike protein.
• This variant represents 52.8% of all sequenced coronaviruses in Mexico, whereas in the US it shows up only in 2.7% of the sequenced samples.

Mutations

• The DNA sequence is specific to each organism. It can sometimes undergo changes in its base-pairs sequence. It is termed as a mutation.
• A mutation may lead to changes in proteins translated by the DNA. Usually, the cells can recognize any damage caused by mutation and repair it before it becomes permanent.