New Strain of Coronavirus — Here’s All You Need to Know
By: Samrat Dutta
Tags: Biology, UK, Covid 19, Science, Mutation

On 14th December 2020, a new strain of Coronavirus was found in the United Kingdom (UK), which appears to be more contagious than the existing COVID-19 virus. SARS-CoV-2 variant is allegedly 70% more contagious. In the past week, COVID-19 case rates nearly doubled in the UK and 60% of the new infections attributed to the new variant of SARS-CoV-2.

The new strain of the virus is named VUI-202012/01. The question is, from where did this new strain come from? The answer is mutation.

What is mutation?

Mutation might sound like a very rare thing that might happen to a species very rarely, but it is actually very common in nature. Mutations are happening in all living organisms, all the time. Mutation is one of the key factors of evolution. Without mutation, there will be no evolution. It happens in humans, plants, animals and even viruses. Without mutation, we human’s wouldn’t have existed. So what is a mutation?

It’s basically a mistake in the genes occurring while copying the genetic code. Any change in the DNA sequence is called a mutation.

Why does mutation happen?

There are mainly two reasons for mutation.

Environmental reasons: Any major changes in the environment may cause mutation. Climate change is one of them. Mutations may also occur due to nuclear radiation. Even UV rays from the sun may cause mutation in our cells. And it’s not a thing you would want. So doctors often recommend using sunscreen while being out in the sun for a long time. Reproduction: Mutations often happen during reproduction. Often the cells make a mistake while copying the DNA. Sometimes, these mistakes turn out to be helpful for the organism. Like this, mutations happen all the time. Now, let’s see an example. Suppose, there was a mistake in copying genes while a new plant was being reproduced. The new plant’s flowers appeared to be more colourful and vibrant than the original species. This is a major mutation for the plant. This new plant with more vibrant flowers will attract bees more easily and will have a major advantage in reproduction over the original species. So, because of natural selection, in future, all of the plants of that species will have more vibrant and colourful flowers. This is how mutation helps in natural selection and evolution.

Almost every species in the world went through mutation and evolved through time. But most of the time, certain mutations aren’t helpful for the species or some even become disadvantages for the species. So, those mutations don’t last long.

During reproduction, RNA viruses tend to have more mutations than DNA viruses. Genetic specialists claimed that SARS-CoV-2 is already having one to two mutations per month, globally. So, it is actually a pretty common thing. But the majority of these mutations are useless.

This new mutation has made some major changes in the virus. It is being theorized that the mutation occurred in a person with very low immunity. The person’s low immunity gave the virus a breeding ground and a perfect place to mutate.

What’s new in this mutation?

According to experts, the recent mutation in the virus caused some changes in the proteins of the spikes of the virus. That made the virus more capable of binding with the human cells and made it more infectious. According to BBC’s report, this new strain is 70% more infectious than the existing SARS-CoV-2 virus.

According to a report of BBC, One mutation called N501Y alters the most important part of the spike, known as the “receptor-binding domain”. Also, an initial analysis of the new variant has been published and identifies 17 potentially important alterations. According to the same report of the BBC, another mutation — a H69/V70 deletion, in which a small part of the spike is removed — has emerged several times before, including famously in infected mink.

Is it deadlier?

The question remains, is the new strain deadlier? As released on www.gov.uk, the chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty said,

“There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments although urgent work is underway to confirm this.”

History showed us that whenever viruses mutated, they became more infectious but less deadly. Often, highly infectious viruses are less deadly.

Will the vaccines work?

The British Prime Minister told the press that there was no evidence suggesting that Covid-19 vaccines were less effective against the new variant. France and Germany’s health ministers also said that the vaccines will be as effective for the new strain of coronavirus as is for the previous strain. But some scientists are sceptical. Professor Ravi Gupta at the University of Cambridge told the BBC news,

“It is rapidly increasing, that’s what’s worried government, we are worried, most scientists are worried.”

He also said that,

“This virus is potentially on a pathway for vaccine escape, it has taken the first couple of steps towards that.”

Vaccine escape occurs when a virus changes so much that it dodges the full effect of the vaccine and continues to infect people.

Because of reasons like this, several countries around the world have taken strong actions to stop the spread of this mutated coronavirus. Another mutation is found in South Africa too. The worldwide economy was starting to grow again after a long time, but this new mutation of Coronavirus is being a big obstacle.

Worldwide Impacts:

The new strain of SARS-CoV-2 left the world more anxious than before. Several countries suspended all flights from the UK. South Korea, Philippines and Japan became the latest countries to suspend all flights from the UK. After that, several other countries, including India suspended all flights from the United Kingdom. Japan has said that it will ban all non-Japanese people from coming to Japan from UK. So far, more than 40 countries have suspended flights from the UK.

Uk has imposed stricter lockdown to save millions from the new variant. Christmas will not be festive this year in the United Kingdom. With shops closed down, the country is experiencing potential fatal blow to its economics.

Not only the UK, but the whole world is also suffering from the fear of VUI 202012/01. The anxiety is increasing day by day. Vaccines are said to be effective on this mutated virus, but only time will tell.