Researchers from Taiwan and Australia have found a coronavirus strain isolated in India carrying a mutation that could threaten the vaccine development of scientists around the world. The change occurred in part of the coronavirus spike protein's receptor-binding domain (RBD), according to the non-peer reviewed study.

This structure targets cells with enzymes called ACE2 that is found in the lungs that also allows the SARS virus to infect people. Scientists who have been working on antibodies to target it might render them useless with the unexpected structural change

Unexpected mutation

Research authors Wei-Lung of the National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan, and collaborators from Murdoch University in Australia said that this was the first report of a significant mutation of the virus. It could threaten the vaccine development for COVID-19.

According to them, "the observation of this study raised the alarm that Sars-CoV-2 mutation with varied epitope [something an antibody attaches itself to] profile could arise at any time. This means current vaccine development against Sars-CoV-2 is at great risk of becoming futile."

They released their research in a preprint review site biorxiv.org on Saturday.

The full genome of the strain in question was first sampled by the National Institute of Virology from a patient in Kerala in January but was only released to the international community in March that raised eyebrows among some researchers.

A medical student from Wuhan, the patient has the strain that does not appear to be closely related to any of those identified in the Chinese city. It appears that the strain is an outlier compared with the recorded variants in some countries.

A computer simulation shows that the receptor-binding domain (RBD) mutation that was not found in any other variants across the world, could remove a hydrogen bond from the spike protein. In the absence of this bond, the virus is less likely to bind to angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) that is found in the lungs and other organs.

The findings still need verification because some factors may have influenced the mutation of the strain. For instance, a technical error during the sequencing process could have happened, said one of the researchers.

Just the tip of the iceberg

China National Centre for Bioinformation has classified 3,500 mutation since the coronavirus was identified in early January.

Presently, COVID-19 cases in India have already reached 9,000 which has grown rapidly since the recent weeks. Most cases identified are from the slums and scientists fear that they could see the next biggest outbreak that could threaten humanitarian disaster.

With the limited testing and information from the subcontinent, the international community still has little knowledge about the evolution and spread of the virus. One researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing said that he is closely monitoring the mutation of the strain in India.

Various researchers have said that the strain could have been spreading quietly for a long time and mutated to adapt to different environments and populations. But others think that there are more strains of the virus and this could just be the tip of the iceberg.

Until now, it is still difficult to predict which vaccine being developed across the globe to likely succeed because they could all fail.