Mutated coronavirus that is more infectious than earlier strains now dominates global cases
The strain doesn't seem to increase disease severity, though After it jumped between millions of humans, SARS-CoV-2 has suffered many mutations along the way. A particular strain, known as ‘D614G’, is more adapted to infecting human cells than earlier mutation variants of the coronavirus. As such, it didn’t take long for D614G to become the dominant coronavirus strain seen in new cases across the globe. Prior to March, D614G was present in just a few locations across the globe, mostly spreading in Europe. However, small changes in the virus’ ‘spike’ protein — a protrusion on the surface of the virus that latches on to cell receptors in order to commence infection — has made D614G much more suited to infecting humans. By the end of March, D614G was already present across the world, becoming the dominant strain, replacing D614. Map showing how the new strain (blue) spread rapidly across the world. Credit: University of Sheffield. These findings were revealed by researchers at Los Ala...
