The transmission speed is faster!Omikon's "second generation variant" appears

Recently, a new variant of Omircor's strains numbered "BA.2.75" has attracted great attention from scientists such as Israel. This variant is evolved from the variant of Omikon strain BA.2 and is known as the "second -generation variant". It has many "unusual" mutations, or it can break through the immunity constructed by the infection of existing vaccines and strains. Barrier, fast infection, cases in India, Japan, the United States and other countries have appeared cases. Relevant experts are worried that the variant can replace existing variants such as BA.2 and BA.4 and set off a new peak of epidemic in the world.

New mutation mutations cause concerns

As of July 2, researchers in various countries have discovered 85 BA.2.75 gene sequences in the international new coronary virus genome databases such as "GISAID". In the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany, etc. Because the number of new crown virus genre shared by countries is only the "corner of the iceberg" of the number of new crown cases in the world, the actual number of BA.2.75 variants is far more than 85.

Dr. Fersen, an expert in the Central Virus Laboratory of the Ministry of Health of Israel, said on Twitter that the appearance of BA.2.75 is "worrying". BA.2 adds 16 mutations, 8 of which are located in the spiny protein gene area.

The Bloom Labs in the United States stated on Twitter that compared with BA.2, the variant has two key mutations: G446S and R493Q. Among them R493Q improves the ability of virus to enter human cells, so BA.2.75 is worthy of further tracking. British virus expert Tom Piccok said that BA.2.75 has a large number of spiny protein mutations and belongs to the "second generation variant", and it is fast and geographically distributed. It needs close attention.

"Second generation variant" suspected to appear

According to the explanation of Flesen, Piccock and others, the so -called "second -generation variants" refers to the evolution of the "first generation of variants", but there are many variants with more mutations and large differences from the first generation of variants. For Omikon strains, BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, BA.5 and other variants belong "The second generation of variants".

Fletsen said that before BA.2.75, researchers had discovered a lot of "second -generation variants" of the new crown virus - "you can find these samples every day", but the variants found before The sample volume is small, and BA.2.75 has been spread in multiple different countries, and there are dozens of samples. It seems to be successful. BA.2.75 is only the first "successful plan", representing the "next step" (that is, the "second -generation variant" of Omircor's poisonous strains), and more complicated gene changes may occur in the future.

Pokck said that the "second -generation variants" evolved from existing and successful variants. These variants have characterized the characteristics of antigenicity and communication, which may mean that they are easier to obtain. More threatening mutation combination.

Future or new epidemic

Studies have shown that the infectivity of the Omircon strain BA.2 variants is stronger than the earlier BA.1 variants that appear earlier. At the end of last year, after Omikon's strain appeared, the BA.1 variants set off a unprecedented epidemic peak worldwide in the world; in March and April this year, BA.2 gradually replaced BA.1, which led to the entry of the United States, Europe and other countries to enter Another round of epidemic; after entering June, the diffusion of BA.4 and BA.5 variants exacerbated the epidemic situation in Europe, Israel and other places again.

Many experts believe that BA.2.75 is likely to have competitive advantages compared to other variants. Australian data processing expert Mike Honey research believes that BA.2.75 spreads extremely fast. From June 15th to 30th, the proportion of the genome of the Indian uploaded by India has risen from less than 5%to 18%, showing the display, display It is replacing other variants, and its transmission speed seems to be faster than BA.2 and BA.5 variants. La Jierajananan, an associate professor of biology of New York Institute of Technology, also believes that BA.2.75 may replace BA.5, BA.4 and other spreading BA.2 variants. Although there are fewer data currently, they cannot be obtained Reliable results, but their growth advantages may be highlighted within a few weeks. Tom Winsler, a professor of biology at the University of Belgium, also said that the growth advantage of BA.2.75 compared to BA.5 is real.

Ulrich Elin, a researcher at the School of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, said, "Before we spend the BA.5 wave, we may have prepared for the next wave. There are 11 mutations in the district, and the immune barrier generated by BA.5 infection is likely to be unable to protect BA.2.75, which leads to a new peak of infection. "

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Editor in charge: Yu Shuai

Supervisor: Mu so strong

- END -