The most dominant strain of the coronavirus mutation may not be stopped by vaccines that are being developed in the United States of America, according to scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico.
This revelation may stop clinical trials from Moderna, Inovio, and Pfizer from continuing in the US.
The Daily Mail said, "Scientists have discovered a coronavirus mutation that is of urgent concern because it makes the virus more contagious and has already become dominant in the places it's reached - including part of the US."
The strain started spreading in Europe in February. It then became the most common and aggressive strain on the East Coast by March. Now, scientists consider it as the dominant strain in the world.
Spreading slowly
The coronavirus is a relatively stable virus. It's not mutating rapidly, but that does not mean it's not possible.
To monitor the mutations, the researchers developed a way to track the mutations that have been fueling the mutations of the coronavirus in real-time.
The researchers downloaded all the viral genome sequences from the Global Initiative for Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) every day. Then they interpreted how and where the virus changes.
Upon following its progression, they discovered 14 mutations. Some of them came from communities (possibly isolated), which only appeared as a byproduct of their genome sampling.
However, there were larger and more worrisome patterns, according to the scientists. They represented various institutions, such as Duke University and Sheffield University from the United Kingdom.
Lethal combination
One mutation, Spike D614G, was called by researchers as a cause for "early warning."
Spike D614G took place in the spike protein. The Daily Mail said this is "a part of the virus that juts out from its surface, earning it a name that means crown, and allowing it to infiltrate human cells."
Researchers still do not know if Spike D614G came from China or Europe. But they are sure the mutation gained momentum in Europe before sweeping the rest of the world.
D614G only appeared seven times in the genome sequences. But in April, GISAID data showed G614 was appearing more frequently in March.
G614 later merged with another mutation, D614. According to the Daily Mail, "Together they've become dominant, and more infectious through several modes."
Spike proteins are more infectious because they bind to human lung cells. They are also more active and can dodge the antibodies developed by the human body for the virus.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has 3.76 million confirmed cases, with 1.25 million recoveries and 264,00 deaths.
The authors said, "Given Spike's vital importance both in terms of viral infectivity and as an antibody target, we felt an urgent need for an 'early warning' pipeline to evaluate Spike pandemic evolution."
They added, "If the pandemic fails to wane, this could exacerbate the potential for antigenic drift and the accumulation of immunologically relevant mutations in the population during the year or more it will take to deliver the first vaccine."
