Fauci says a new coronavirus mutation may have made it more infectious

[Chris Smith]

• A coronavirus mutation may have made the virus more contagious than the initial strains, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a new interview.
• The nation's top infectious disease expert acknowledged that not everything is clear, and there's a debate that needs to be clarified through further research.
• A variety of studies explained that the D614G mutation of the virus is now the dominant strain in Europe and the US, concluding that the genetic change increased the pathogen's ability to infect cells.

A string of five characters, D614G, will not mean anything to people who haven't been closely following news about the novel coronavirus pandemic. But others will recognize one of the more common SARS-CoV-2 mutations that has been detailed in a variety of studies. The simple gene variation affects the spike protein of the virus, which is responsible for attaching the pathogen to healthy cells. Some scientists believe that D614G is responsible for an increase in contagiousness, with a recent study describing the way the mutation improves the virus's ability to hook up to cells. Not all geneticists agree with these findings, and more research will be needed to establish whether the D614G strain is indeed more infectious than the first strain of the virus that emerged from Wuhan, China.

Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged the findings of these studies and the dispute, saying that it appears the mutation may have increased the contagiousness of the virus.

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Fauci says a new coronavirus mutation may have made it more infectious originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 3 Jul 2020 at 13:50:09 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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