Article content
The concerns of many experts about the coronavirus’s ability to mutate have been confirmed by a new Chinese study. Scientists from the university in the city of Changzhou found that the virus that causes the disease Covid-19 already has over 30 variants.
Some of them are even up to a hundred times more aggressive and human cells die faster under their pressure.
The study carried out by researchers from the university in the Chinese city of Changzhou confirmed earlier concerns of some experts. The scientists examined strains from approximately eleven patients who were selected randomly and tested positive for the coronavirus. And they found that the virus has already managed to mutate into several genetic variants.
„Data suggest that healthcare workers underestimated the coronavirus’s mutational capacity. The study showed that different parts of the world are affected by different strains of Covid-19,“. Chinese scientists found over 30 mutations, 19 of them were completely new.
They kill faster
„The coronavirus has mutated so that its new variants can now alter pathogenicity, i.e., the ability to cause disease,“ the researchers stated in the study. The most aggressive strains kill human cells many times faster; compared with the weakest ones they also produce up to a 270-fold higher viral load.
This ability of the coronavirus hinders the development of a vaccine or drug, on which several scientific teams around the world are working.
At the university in Changzhou they are convinced that vaccine development must take all mutations into account, otherwise it will probably not be effective.
