extremely worrying “Botswana species” appear to have a lot of mutations.
Date 25 Nov 2021 time 1:42 p.m.
Come again, the latest mutation. Delta is not the last. Keep an eye on the high mutation rate.
A new coronavirus strain, strain B. 1.1.529, with 32 spike protein mutations, was first discovered in Botswana. Three cases have been confirmed so far, with six more confirmed in South Africa and one in Hong Kong as travelers returning from South Africa. From The National Report
Dr Tom Peacock, virologist at Imperial College London Post details of the new species on the genome sharing website. noting that “The incredible volume of Spike mutations indicates that this could be a real concern.”
“Last observation -This strain does not have a single mutation at the furin cleavage site (an enzyme responsible for breaking into cells to infect), but has two, P681H (seen in Alpha, Mu, some Gamma, B. 1.1.318) combined with N679K (seen in C.1.2 and elsewhere) – this is the first time I’ve seen these two mutations in a single variant…” Dr. Tom Peacock say
Dr Peacock said that B. 1.1.529 “should have been highly monitored because of the terrifying details about the spike”, but added that it could become a “smart spike”. “Dedicated clusters” that are not highly propagating
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