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Controversy Over SARS-CoV-2 Mutation and What It Means
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In a 33-page preprint summary of research at Los Alamos National Laboratory, scientists reported finding a mutation in the spike of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 [1]. Bette Korber and colleagues expressed "urgent concern" over the potential impact of the mutation on SARS-CoV-2 transmission, pathogenesis, and immune interventions. In a report describing the study, the Los Angeles Times surmised the Los Alamos findings "could upend [the] assumption" that coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, "are stable and not likely to mutate the way the influenza virus does, requiring a new vaccine every year" [2]. Then The Atlantic quoted scientists who believe the Los Alamos conclusions are "overblown" and suggested "there's no clear evidence that the pandemic virus has evolved into significantly different forms" [3].
Here are the three articles.
1. Korber B, Fischer WM, Gnanakaran S, et al. Spike mutation pipeline reveals the emergence of a more transmissible form of SARS-CoV-2. bioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.29.069054 (This report appears as a bioRxiv preprint that has not had peer review.)
2. Vartabedian R. Scientists say a now-dominant strain of the coronavirus could be more contagious than original. Los Angeles Times. May 5, 2020. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-05/mutant-coronavirus-has-emerged-more-contagious-than-original
3. Yong E. The problem with stories about dangerous coronavirus mutations. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/coronavirus-strains-transmissible/611239/
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