Researchers in the US state of Florida have said that the new Corona virus has mutated in a way that makes it more capable of attacking human cells, which explains the increase in the number of cases in the United States and South America, as reported by the American channel “Al Hurra” on Saturday.
Scientists at the Scripps Institute for Research have detected a mutation in the protruding protein on the surface of the virus that helps it enter cells.
They found a mutation called “D614G” that gives the virus more protuberances and makes it more stable, which makes it easier for them to attach to the cells and penetrate them.
Herion Choi, the virologist who participated in the supervision of the study, revealed that the research concluded that the viruses which underwent this mutation were “much more infectious than those which did not make it”.
CNN said the results of the latest study have yet to be reviewed and more research is needed on the impact of this boom on the course of the pandemic the world is witnessing.
But William Hasseltin, the virologist and biotechnology businessman who received a copy of the results, said that we must be “on alert for continuous change” in the case of the virus because it is able to “respond to everything we do to control it ”. If we make a drug that will resist him, and if we make a vaccine, he will try to work around it, and if we stay at home, he will be able to stay longer.
What gives this study its importance comes after the announcement by the World Health Organization, that the mutations that have been followed so far will not affect the effectiveness of vaccines under development.
Betty Corper, a researcher at the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico, in the United States, also warned in April of the D614G mutation, saying that it was an “urgent concern” because it had become the most common breed. widespread in Europe and the United States.
The latest data indicates that the virus has so far infected nearly 7.7 million people worldwide, killing 428,000 people.
The United States tops the list of cases worldwide with more than 2.1 million injuries, followed by Brazil with approximately 831,000 cases, and then Russia, which registered 520,000.
India is now the fourth country most affected by the virus (around 310,000), increasing the chances of reimposing general isolation measures just days after its lifting.
Fear of a second wave of viruses is increasing even in countries that have said they have managed to control the epidemic, and authorities in the Chinese capital, Beijing, temporarily closed a large market for agricultural products on Friday after the number of local infections has increased in the past two days.