Riprendiamo questo articolo dal magazine di divulgazione scientifica inglese “The Conversation“. Le info sulla mutazione del virus derivano da una intervista alla dott.ssa Lucy van Dorp ricercatrice presso UCL Genetics Institute. La riproduzione dell’articolo in lingua originale avviene sotto licenza Commons 4.0 . Suggeriamo di visionarlo con il browser Chrome che consente una traduzione automatica primitiva in lingua italiana. |
Coronavirus new variant – genomics researcher answers key questions
A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is thought to be driving increased transmission of the disease in parts of the UK. The government has placed some regions including London under new, stricter coronavirus restrictions, known as Tier 4. People in Tier 4 areas will not be able to gather with anyone outside their household for Christmas, while those in the rest of the country can only gather on Christmas Day itself.
Boris Johnson, the prime minister, and his chief scientific advisors said that the new variant could increase transmission of COVID-19 by as much as 70% and increase the R or reproduction number by 0.4.
What’s the significance of this new discovery? The Conversation asked Lucy van Dorp, a microbial genomics researcher and an expert in the evolution of pathogens, some key questions about what we know at this point in time.