UK VARIANT CORONAVIRUS

UK VARIANT CORONAVIRUS

Subject: Science & tech

Context: The UK variant of the coronavirus did not appear to be more transmissible than the variant of the virus most common in India, according to a study by scientists at the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Concept:

• The variant was identified in genomic surveillance by COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK), a consortium that analyses genome sequencing data from the UK. COG-UK is the largest contributor to the global Covid-19 database GISAID.
• The variant is the result of multiple mutations in the spike protein of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as well as mutations in other genomic regions of the RNA virus.
• COG-UK identified one of these mutations as “N501Y”, in an area of the spike protein that binds to a key protein in the human cell, the ACE2 receptor.
• This was an indication that the alterations may, theoretically, result in the virus becoming more infectious.