So far, coronavirus mutations don’t mean much, big study finds

So far, coronavirus mutations don’t mean much, big study finds

 

A giant study of more than 12,000 mutations in the novel coronavirus finds none of them has made a big difference in how easily it infects people, researchers reported last week. The mutations, found in more than 46,000 samples taken from 99 different countries, all appear to be neutral, the team of leading viral genetics experts reported in the journal Nature Communications. "We find that none of the recurrent SARS-CoV-2 mutations tested are associated with significantly increased viral transmission," Francois Balloux, Lucy van Dorp and colleagues of University College London reported. They even found a much-discussed mutation that many researchers believed had made the virus more easily transmitted does not, in fact, appear to have affected its ability to infect people. The mutation, called D614G, doesn't actually do much, they found. It appears this mutation is "more of a stowaway that got a lucky ride on a successful lineage, rather than a driver of transmission," Balloux tweeted. It simply appeared at a time when the virus started taking off in Europe.