A new coronavirus variant with mutations is on the rise in New York City, according to news reports.
This latest coronavirus variant, named B.1.526, first appeared in New York in November 2020 and is now responsible for approximately 25% of the coronavirus genomes that were followed up from New York in February and in a global database called GISAID has been posted, according to The New York Times.
Researchers from the California Institute of Technology identified B.1.526 after searching that database for mutations in the ear protein of the virus, or the structure by which the virus can bind and penetrate human cells. The researchers placed their findings, which had not yet been judged by peers, in the pre-print database. bioRxiv.
Two “branches” or versions of the B.1.526 lineage exist, both with worrying mutations. One branch has a mutation called E484K, which has also been seen in other coronavirus variants, including those identified in South Africa and Brazil. This mutation may reduce the ability of certain antibodies to neutralize or inactivate the virus, and may help the coronavirus to partially evade COVID-19 vaccines. Live Science reported earlier. The Times has a mutation called S477N, which can help bind the virus more strongly to cells.
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Separately, Columbia University researchers also identified the B.1.526 variant when sequencing more than 1,100 virus samples from patients with COVID-19 in their hospital. They found that the percentage of patients infected with the version B1.526 with the E484K mutation has increased fairly rapidly in recent weeks, and it now infects 12% of their patients.
“We find that the detection rate of this new variant will increase in the last few weeks. A concern is that it may start to catch up with other strains, just as the British and South African variants” did in those countries, said Dr. . David Ho, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University, who led the Colubmia study, told CNN. However, Ho added that more research is needed to determine whether B.1.526 wins other variants.
“Given the involvement of E484K or S477N [mutations], combined with the fact that the New York region has a lot of permanent immunity [to earlier coronavirus strains] from the spring wave, it’s definitely one to watch, ”Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, told the Times.
Originally published on Live Science.