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LONDON: UK scientists have suggested that COVID-19 may be mutating, heightening fears that the virus is adapting to being carried by humans.
In an unpublished study conducted by a team of researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, more than 5,300 coronavirus genomes were analyzed from samples taken from 62 countries.
The results of the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that one of two different spike protein mutations were found in 810 cases worldwide, with one in particular discovered in 788 cases.
The prevalence of the two mutations suggest that genetic changes in the makeup of the virus, specifically in the spike proteins that allow virus cells to latch on to and infect human cells, are a sign that COVID-19 is becoming more adept at passing from person to person. This could have far-reaching implications for how scientists develop vaccines and treatments.
The study added that spike protein mutations are relatively rare, and that mostly, COVID-19’s structure has remained stable throughout the pandemic.
It said though it is as yet unclear how the mutations the researchers have observed affect the disease’s ability to spread, the fact that the mutations are occurring independently across different regions suggests that they are playing at least some part in aiding transmission.
The study’s lead author, Martin Hibberd, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the findings are proof of the need to study the pathogen in case more dangerous mutations emerge.
“This is exactly what we need to look out for,” he added. “People are making vaccines and other therapies against this spike protein because it seems a very good target. We need to keep an eye on it and make sure that any mutations don’t invalidate any of these approaches.”
Part of what makes mutations in virus spike proteins significant, especially in the case of COVID-19, is that disrupting their function is one of the key lines of research in the quest to develop vaccines.
Major changes to these proteins through mutation, altering their behavior or potency, risk not only making the virus more aggressive as it evolves, but also undoing months of careful research into negating its effects on people.
The nature of COVID-19’s spike proteins are already thought to be the key reason why it was able to make the leap from a different species, widely thought to be bats, to humans in the first place.
It is also thought to be the reason why COVID-19 has proven to be a more contagious disease than the SARS coronavirus, which caused a smaller epidemic in Asia in 2002, on account of being better suited to interaction with human cells.
“This is an early warning,” Hibberd said. “Even if these mutations are not important for vaccines, other mutations might be, and we need to maintain our surveillance so we are not caught out by deploying a vaccine that only works against some strains.”