Originally posted by Paddy
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And now for something completely different ...
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Multiple health and safety breaches in the first 10 mins alone! Goodness me, what is the world coming to? -
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Sheep’s will still insist on lockdown because of reasonsOriginally posted by NotAllThere View PostComment
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According to someone on the 6 o'clock news, the new variant has 22 mutations.
Which, apparently, is unusual, two or three being more usual.When the fun stops, STOP.Comment
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Maybe they didn't spot the interim mutations?Originally posted by DoctorStrangelove View PostComment
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Maybe the alien invasion is underway and they are just really really small.
Makes sense seeing as space is really really big. Downsize to quantum particle size and take advantage of the different laws of physics. No need to change them Scotty.
Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.Comment
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https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/def...ed-Kingdom.pdf
Well there's jolly then.Possible sources of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants with a high
number of mutations in the spike protein
The unusually high number of spike protein mutations, other genomic properties of the variant, and the high sequencing coverage in the UK suggest that the variant has not emerged through gradual accumulation of mutations in the UK.
It is also unlikely that the variant could have arisen through selection pressure from ongoing vaccination programmes as the observed increase does not match the timing of such activities.
One possible explanation for the emergence of the variant is prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection in a single patient, potentially with reduced immunocompetence, similar to what has previously been described [17,18].
Such prolonged infection can lead to accumulation of immune escape mutations at an elevated rate.
Another possible explanation could be adaptation processes in a virus that occur in a different susceptible animal species and is then transmitted back to humans from the animal hosts.
This led to the emergence of a variant with multiple spike protein mutations (including RBD mutation Y453F and deletion 69-70) in Denmark during transmission among mink [19].
Several different spike protein mutations associated with mink have also been described in the Netherlands [20].
The UK has reported to ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe that there is no clear epidemiological link to animals for VUI 202012/01, so this explanation is less likely for this variant [1].
Lastly, it is also possible that the variant has emerged through circulation in countries with no or very low sequencing coverage.
This hypothesis is less plausible, however, as random mutations acquired during circulation of the virus would not explain the unusually high proportion of spike protein mutations, and undetected circulation for a long enough time for the high number of mutations to accumulate (around 10 months according to current molecular clock estimates) is also not very likely due to global travel patterns.
Last edited by DoctorStrangelove; 21 December 2020, 18:38.When the fun stops, STOP.Comment
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If you want immunity, eat more bats.
Or something, Pangolins possibly.Old Greg - In search of acceptance since Mar 2007. Hoping each leap will be his last.Comment
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