Icelandic Scientists Discovers 40 Mutations Of Coronavirus
ICELAND – As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, scientists in Iceland discovered 40 mutations of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
Based on research from Icelandic genetic company DeCode Genetics, 40 mutations of COVID-19 have been tracked down in Iceland alone. Moreover, this entails that the virus has developed to be more contagious.
However, Danish scientist Kári Stefánsson, director of Decode emphasized that the virus would be less dangerous to those affected. Following their discovery, they also found two variants of new coronavirus in a single patient.
According to an article from Information DK, DeCode Genetics partnered with Iceland’s health authorities to test around 9,768 people for coronavirus. Additionally, gene sequencing of the virus was also conducted.
Stefánsson explains that through gene sequencing, they could monitor how the viruses mutate. As such, 40 island-specific virus mutations were found by his team.
We found someone who had a mixture of viruses. They had viruses from before and after the mutation, and the only infections traceable to that person are the mutated virus.
But, even with their discovery, virologist Allan Randrup Thomsen from the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Copenhagen was not surprised.
He stated the coronavirus has been observed to mutate at a violent rate. Thomsen cited that China also had several reports of coronavirus mutations already.
Meanwhile, according to the article, DeCode’s gene sequencing had successfully located three infection groups. Furthermore, the organization could also track where the virus had come from.
They noted that they had sampled a virus strain that came from Italy and some from England. This way, contact tracing of infected patients becomes easier.
Currently, the number of coronavirus cases has surpassed 525,297 infections. Additionally, there have been 23,701 fatalities due to the virus. Meanwhile, 123,329 have recovered.
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