On December 12, the scientific literature was replenished with a preprint, which was published by scientists from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Researchers have made a compelling case that Omicron could hardly have accumulated so many mutations in the human population alone. Probably, to get such a number of changes, he had to “jump” first into a mouse, and then back, according to Chinese scientists.
“The authors of the article provided convincing evidence that Omicron made a double jump,” said Konstantin Krutovsky, professor at the Department of Genomics and Bioinformatics at Siberian Federal University, professor at the University of Göttingen in his conversation with Izvestia.
In the article, Chinese scientists drew attention to two mutations that only Omicron has and are absent in other strains.
“It is noteworthy that only Q493R and Q498R (mutations” Omicron “-” Izvestia “) significantly increased the affinity (strength of binding interaction) with mouse ACE2 (receptor, gateway for coronavirus), which corresponds to their detection in mouse-adapted variants SARS-CoV-2, ”the researchers noted.
Adapted viruses are viruses specially designed in laboratories that can infect mice. Scientists have used directed mutagenesis to alter human SARS-CoV-2. They took regular SARS-CoV-2 and transferred it from human cells to mouse cells, gradually increasing infectivity.
Thus, several strains of “mouse” SARS-CoV-2 were created, the main mutations of which coincide with the “Omicron”.
A Mouse Story: Scientists Found a Link to a Laboratory Virus in Omicron
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
