AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
The doomsday variant3/20/2023 ![]() ![]() Other times, there’s no significant change in the virulence of the virus and its characteristics remain unchanged. Sometimes, the mutation can be terminal, meaning the virus can't replicate anymore and dies off. All coronaviruses have an enzyme called an error-correcting polymerase, which removes that incorrect insertion (misprint) in the RNA and replaces it with a "better one." The better one, however, is not always perfect. ![]() ![]() In other words, the virus has a misprint. When a virus replicates or makes copies of itself, errors can occur in the instructions (the RNA template) as they're being read. What is a variant, and where do variants come from?Ī variant is a group of viruses that share an inherited set of distinctive mutations in their genetic code. In the Q&A below, Mullane provides answers to common questions about variants-including an explanation of how viruses mutate, and why widespread vaccination remains our best defense against COVID-19. Kathleen Mullane, an infectious diseases expert at UChicago Medicine. “I am particularly concerned about the populations of people, including children, who have no immunity to COVID-19 because they have not yet been vaccinated,” said Prof. As a result, we’re seeing more children being infected and hospitalized with the Delta variant compared to original strains of the virus. The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has already spread to more than 100 countries. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |