Researchers have discovered the third new variant of coronavirus in the United States and say it could end up being the most easily transmitted so far.
A team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale located the first appearance of the new variant, called 20C-US, in Texas in May 2020.
The variant carries several mutations, including the ear protein, which the virus uses to enter and infect human cells.
Scientists say the variant has not spread significantly beyond the country’s borders, and is the most common in the West Midwest.
In addition, it could be responsible for at least 50 percent of all U.S. cases, meaning it is widespread.
“We predict that the 20C-US may be the most dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States,” the team wrote in a prepress article.
“The continued evolution of 20C-US, as well as other region-specific dominant variants emerging around the world, should continue to be monitored with genomic, epidemiological and experimental studies to understand viral evolution and predict outcomes. futures of the pandemic “.
20C-USA is now one of the growing lists of mutations discovered in countries such as the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
The news comes just a day after Ohio researchers announced the first discovery of two variants of their own production: one virtually identical to a variant that emerged in the United Kingdom and the other completely unique in the United States and dominant in the capital of Ohio. Columbus.
Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have found a third new variant of the coronavirus, called 20C-US, first detected in Texas in May 2020. Pictured: Odessa Regional Medical Center nurse Teresa Armendariz tests a person to detect COVID-19 in west Texas. Horse Center in Odessa, Texas, December 8th
Genome sequencing revealed an increase in the new variant in July 2020 (left) and, between November 1 and December 31, accounted for 50% of all U.S. genomes (right).
Led by Dr. Keith Gagnon, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at SIU, the team first noticed the possibility of the new variant while looking at Illinois genome sequencing data.
“The data jumped off the page when we looked at it, so we started looking at national data and then genome sequence data around the world,” Gagnon said in a press release.
Viral genomes have been sequenced from samples taken from March 2020 to the present day.
“The data jumped off the page when we looked at it, so we started looking at national data and then genome sequence data around the world,” Gagnon said in a press release.
The team began sequencing viral genomes from samples taken from March 2020 to the present and one variant became more pronounced than the rest.
To see if it was present nationwide, the researchers randomly subsampled 3.3 percent of the U.S. genomes available in the global GISAID genomics database.
The earliest appearance was found from a sample taken in the Houston, Texas area on May 20, 2020.
After the variant over time, there was a remarkable expansion in the presence of the variant in July 2020, coinciding with the second wave of the American pandemic, in states such as Wisconsin and Illinois.
However, between November 1 and December 31, nearly 50 percent of all U.S. sequenced genomes are the new variant.
The researchers suggest that this means that the 20C-US has “exceeded 50% penetrance to become the most dominant variant in the United States.”
The variant has not spread significantly beyond the American borders and is the most common in the Midwest (above).
The researchers say the virus has several mutations, including two in the ear protein, which it uses to enter and infect cells. Pictured: CDC illustration of coronavirus
However, it has a high prevalence in the eastern and middle western regions and has not spread widely to the western half of the United States.
‘Is here. We found it. It is definitely self-produced and widespread, and we are the first to characterize it, ”said Gagnon.
20C-US have been reported in other countries, including Australia, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, but at low levels.
The first mutations in the virus occurred in genes related to the maturation of virus particles – a process by which a virus breaks from a host cell and activates to infect more cells. and viral protein processing.
Gagnon says they are all important for virus production.
Since then, the new variant has formed two new mutations in the ear protein, which shows that it is evolving.
There is no evidence, but the team claims that the combination of reduced mortality rates and an increase in COVID-19 infections suggest that the new variant is highly communicable, but only causes midl disease.
Dr. Daniel Jones, of Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, who discovered the Columbus variant, told DailyMail.com that the Illinois variant “looks very related but not exactly identical.”
Jones said that means the two sets of researchers – in Ohio and Illinois – are likely to track variants of the same growth.
With the first doses of recently approved vaccines being administered across the country, Gagnon said it is not known whether the variant will affect its effectiveness.
“Based on the mutations so far, I don’t think it will significantly affect the effectiveness of the vaccine,” he said.
“The problem is that the virus continues to evolve and, since May, it has acquired three mutations, two of which are found in the ear protein, one of which can affect antibody binding. There are many unknowns.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have been testing their vaccines against international variants and say they expect the blows to provide protection.