Coronavirus Has Gone Through 6 Mutations Since January Suggesting Vaccine Development May Become a Cyclical Work: Study

A joint study by two epidemic research institutes in China found that the novel coronavirus has gone through rapid mutations and might stay much longer than expected.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, coronavirus has gone through at least six mutations in its genes which boost its infectivity and immune escape or its ability to escape detection and attack the immune system.

The researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease in Guangzhou and the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center said that most of these mutations happened in the US and Europe.

Coronavirus Mutations

The coronavirus uses the spike protein to bind with a molecule called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2) in host cells. Professors Qiu Tianyi and Leng Qibin have identified three mutations that strengthen the binding force of coronavirus.

For instance, the change in the N439K gene added a chemical bond between the ACE2 and the spike protein. The three mutations mainly targeted the human's immune system, almost similar to how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks with a fast mutation.

One of these mutations can destroy the ionic bond between an antibody and coronavirus, which is supposed to neutralize SARS-CoV-2. Qiu and Leng said: "This means that even if the effective vaccine could be developed for current circulating Sars-CoV-2, the rapid, immune escape trend mutations will cause the [ineffectiveness of the vaccine] in a short time."

Then, vaccine development may become a cyclical work, just like the case of the influenza virus.

The study further explained the United States and Britain are the two major mutation hotbeds as of the moment, recording changes of the genes affecting the infectivity and immune escape of the virus.

According to the researchers,some previous studies had found that an average adult had a "cold" caused by the coronavirus every two years. The human immune system should have learned from these previous infections and imposed a selective pressure on some common genes that drove the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus Might Be Here for Much Longer

American scientists initially estimated that the coronavirus pandemic would last until the end of next year if humans would establish long-lasting immunity against COVID-19.

However, if the immunity is short-lived, the outbreak might return every year, according to the researchers led by Professor Marc Lipsitch, an infectious disease epidemiologist from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in the paper published in Science magazine last month.

Meanwhile, researchers from Wuhan, China reported on Tuesday that they failed to find long-lasting antibodies on medical workers exposed to the virus at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak.

Due to this, they warned that humans might never develop long-lasting immunity against COVID-19.

In a previous report from Science Times, Lipsitch said that how long the virus will be present still remains unseen. It might take more than a few months to a couple of years before it completely goes away.