As COVID-19 blankets the globe - now having officially infected over 800,000 people in 179 countries, causing over 39,000 deaths - scientists are tracking a multitude of strains, according to USA Today.
The virus has undergone over a hundred tiny mutations which act like genetic fingerprints - allowing researchers to see how the virus is migrating and splitting into similar but new subtypes, which can be seen at the website NextStrain.org.
(for more on "strain" vs "mutation" and why the terminology is causing confusion, see this thread from NextStrain's Trevor Bedford)
Labs around the world are turning their sequencing machines, most about the size of a desktop printer, to the task of rapidly sequencing the genomes of virus samples taken from people sick with COVID-19. The information is uploaded to a website called NextStrain.org that shows how the virus is migrating and splitting into similar but new subtypes. -USA Today
Frequent sequencing of the virus has allowed researchers to draw several conclusions; for example, social distancing and shelter-in-place orders appear to be working in some areas, and that the virus doesn't appear to be growing more lethal as it evolves.
"The virus mutates so slowly that the virus strains are fundamentally very similar to each other," said infectious disease specialist Charlies Chiu of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. "The outbreaks are trackable. We have the ability to do genomic sequencing almost in real-time to see what strains or lineages are circulating," he added.
Chiu also believes that it's unlikely that the difference in strains is responsible for the virus hitting people differently - with most some feeling only slightly under the weather for a day or two, 15% needing hospitalization, and a mortality rate that varies by country (and likely by testing rates).
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness, began circulating in China around mid-November or mid-December. Its genome is made up of approximately 30,000 base pairs - while a human has over 3 billion. According to the report, the virus's most divergent strains contain only 11 base pair changes.
So far, most cases on the U.S. West Coast are linked to a strain first identified in Washington state. It may have come from a man who had been in Wuhan, China, the virus’ epicenter, and returned home on Jan. 15. It is only three mutations away from the original Wuhan strain, according to work done early in the outbreak by Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at Fred Hutch, a medical research center in Seattle.
On the East Coast there are several strains, including the one from Washington and others that appear to have made their way from China to Europe and then to New York and beyond, Chiu said. -USA Today
Mar 31, 2020 1:19 PM CST There Are Multiple Strains Of Coronavirus; Here's What We Know
RogerandoutLondon, Greater London, England UK686 Posts
RogerandoutLondon, Greater London, England UK686 posts
MustangWriter: As COVID-19 blankets the globe - now having officially infected over 800,000 people in 179 countries, causing over 39,000 deaths - scientists are tracking a multitude of strains, according to USA Today.
The virus has undergone over a hundred tiny mutations which act like genetic fingerprints - allowing researchers to see how the virus is migrating and splitting into similar but new subtypes, which can be seen at the website NextStrain.org.
(for more on "strain" vs "mutation" and why the terminology is causing confusion, see this thread from NextStrain's Trevor Bedford)
Labs around the world are turning their sequencing machines, most about the size of a desktop printer, to the task of rapidly sequencing the genomes of virus samples taken from people sick with COVID-19. The information is uploaded to a website called NextStrain.org that shows how the virus is migrating and splitting into similar but new subtypes. -USA Today
Frequent sequencing of the virus has allowed researchers to draw several conclusions; for example, social distancing and shelter-in-place orders appear to be working in some areas, and that the virus doesn't appear to be growing more lethal as it evolves.
"The virus mutates so slowly that the virus strains are fundamentally very similar to each other," said infectious disease specialist Charlies Chiu of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. "The outbreaks are trackable. We have the ability to do genomic sequencing almost in real-time to see what strains or lineages are circulating," he added.
Chiu also believes that it's unlikely that the difference in strains is responsible for the virus hitting people differently - with most some feeling only slightly under the weather for a day or two, 15% needing hospitalization, and a mortality rate that varies by country (and likely by testing rates).
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness, began circulating in China around mid-November or mid-December. Its genome is made up of approximately 30,000 base pairs - while a human has over 3 billion. According to the report, the virus's most divergent strains contain only 11 base pair changes.
So far, most cases on the U.S. West Coast are linked to a strain first identified in Washington state. It may have come from a man who had been in Wuhan, China, the virus’ epicenter, and returned home on Jan. 15. It is only three mutations away from the original Wuhan strain, according to work done early in the outbreak by Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at Fred Hutch, a medical research center in Seattle.
On the East Coast there are several strains, including the one from Washington and others that appear to have made their way from China to Europe and then to New York and beyond, Chiu said. -USA Today
HexagonKeySet: YOU know all that - who'd have you were such a learned dude eh - so why can;t a genius like you find a real woman in the real world ?
Unlike you... I don't need to 'find' a woman. Secondly a 'legal' relationship would compromise certain financial trusts that have been set up. Not that it's any of your business after all you've proved yourself true to your screen name... you're just a TOOL.
Rogerandout: This "WE" you refer to. Would that be you and your fellow scientists
Its a copied news report and headline you donkey. I even listed the source. Link it and you'll read it's the reporter's title. Your comprehension skills are extremely low. Perhaps you need a liver cleanse.
MustangWriter: Its a copied news report and headline you donkey. I even listed the source. Link it and you'll read it's the reporter's title. Your comprehension skills are extremely low. Perhaps you need a liver cleanse.
Apologies. It came from a secondary source Zero Hedge:
Mar 31, 2020 · There Are Multiple Strains Of Coronavirus; Here’s What We Know by ZeroHedge · March 31, 2020 As COVID-19 blankets the globe – now having officially infected over 800,000 people in 179 countries, causing over 39,000 deaths – scientists are tracking a multitude of strains , …
MustangWriter: Apologies. It came from a secondary source Zero Hedge:
Now I understand your confusion..
CONSPIRACY-PSEUDOSCIENCE
Sources in the Conspiracy-Pseudoscience category may publish unverifiable information that is not always supported by evidence. These sources may be untrustworthy for credible/verifiable information, therefore fact checking and further investigation is recommended on a per article basis when obtaining information from these sources. See all Conspiracy-Pseudoscience sources.
Overall, we rate Zero Hedge an extreme right biased conspiracy website based on the promotion of false/misleading/debunked information that routinely denigrates the left.
Launched in 2009, Zero Hedge is a finance blog founded by Colin Lokey also known with the pseudonym “Tyler Durden,” Daniel Ivandjiiski, and Tim Backshall. According to a Bloomberg Interview the Zero Hedge founders/authors were anonymous until 2016. A Professional Service Subscription is required to read the rest of the interview from Bloomberg, however a New Yorker article also covered their history.
Zero Hedge wrote a rebuttal article regarding the Bloomberg interview that can be found here. A quote from the rebuttal reads: “Zero Hedge hired Colin when he approached us over a year ago begging for a job after he was fired with cause from Seeking Alpha, following a fight with a co-worker.”
Funded by / Ownership
The website is registered in Bulgaria under the name Georgi Georgiev, a business partner of Krassimir Ivandjiiski.
According to Rationalwiki the only writer “conclusively” identified is “Dan Ivandjiiski, who conducts public interviews on behalf of Zero Hedge.” The blog generates revenue from online advertising.
Analysis / Bias
In a quote from the above New Yorker article they summarize the political stance of the blog, which Lokey told Bloomberg is: “Russia=good. Obama=idiot. Bashar al-Assad=benevolent leader. John Kerry= dunce. Vladimir Putin=greatest leader in the history of statecraft.”
Zero Hedge’s content has been classified as “alt-right” and has been criticized for presenting conspiracy theories.
In review, Zero Hedge publishes pro-right wing/Trump articles such as Pat Buchanan: “Trump Calls Off Cold War II.” As well as fake news stories regarding liberals: Anti-Trump Protesters Bused Into Austin, Chicago.
Editorial content is written under the pseudonym Tyler Durden and usually focuses on conspiracies related to economic collapse. Zero Hedge sources to factually mixed think tanks such as the The Mises Institute, which promotes Austrian (Anarcho-Capitalism) economics.
A factual search reveals a terrible track record with IFCN fact checkers. Below is just a small sample of the numerous failed fact checks by Zero Hedge.
Says China “stole Coronavirus from Canada and weaponized it into a Bioweapon.” – False Is a Craigslist ad proof that counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally were “paid to make chaos”? – False It’s now against the law in California to shower and do laundry on the same day. – Mostly False A “newly uncovered” photograph reveals Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was crying over an empty parking lot, not detained migrant children, at a protest in Texas. – False “The Ukrainian government just indicted the Burisma gas company & named Hunter Biden for accepting millions of dollars from a slush fund.” – False
Overall, we rate Zero Hedge an extreme right biased conspiracy website based on the promotion of false/misleading/debunked information that routinely denigrates the left. (8/18/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 1/29/2020)
MustangWriter: Unlike you... I don't need to 'find' a woman. Secondly a 'legal' relationship would compromise certain financial trusts that have been set up. Not that it's any of your business after all you've proved yourself true to your screen name... you're just a TOOL.
You sad humourless unbalanced li'l whippet !
I don't 'need to find a woman' seems your puny attention span and limited comprehension doesn't extend as far as reading an entire thread header.
IF you had any brains at all you'd be thanking me for my support when you were attacked for a very similar thread ... but no, a cyclopic Troll could never handle 'dealing with the matter at hand' without dragging all his petty jealousies with him !
More evidence that Elizabeth Iserbyte Thompson was correct when she wrote 'The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America' eh
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The virus has undergone over a hundred tiny mutations which act like genetic fingerprints - allowing researchers to see how the virus is migrating and splitting into similar but new subtypes, which can be seen at the website NextStrain.org.
(for more on "strain" vs "mutation" and why the terminology is causing confusion, see this thread from NextStrain's Trevor Bedford)
Labs around the world are turning their sequencing machines, most about the size of a desktop printer, to the task of rapidly sequencing the genomes of virus samples taken from people sick with COVID-19. The information is uploaded to a website called NextStrain.org that shows how the virus is migrating and splitting into similar but new subtypes. -USA Today
Frequent sequencing of the virus has allowed researchers to draw several conclusions; for example, social distancing and shelter-in-place orders appear to be working in some areas, and that the virus doesn't appear to be growing more lethal as it evolves.
"The virus mutates so slowly that the virus strains are fundamentally very similar to each other," said infectious disease specialist Charlies Chiu of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. "The outbreaks are trackable. We have the ability to do genomic sequencing almost in real-time to see what strains or lineages are circulating," he added.
Chiu also believes that it's unlikely that the difference in strains is responsible for the virus hitting people differently - with most some feeling only slightly under the weather for a day or two, 15% needing hospitalization, and a mortality rate that varies by country (and likely by testing rates).
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness, began circulating in China around mid-November or mid-December. Its genome is made up of approximately 30,000 base pairs - while a human has over 3 billion. According to the report, the virus's most divergent strains contain only 11 base pair changes.
So far, most cases on the U.S. West Coast are linked to a strain first identified in Washington state. It may have come from a man who had been in Wuhan, China, the virus’ epicenter, and returned home on Jan. 15. It is only three mutations away from the original Wuhan strain, according to work done early in the outbreak by Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at Fred Hutch, a medical research center in Seattle.
On the East Coast there are several strains, including the one from Washington and others that appear to have made their way from China to Europe and then to New York and beyond, Chiu said. -USA Today
Read the rest of the report here: