The Omicron variant of the coronaviruses has a lot of genetic variations, including at least 26 that are unique to it. It is not always better to have more, but it is sometimes better to have less: Sometimes a virus can work together to make it more fearsome, but they may also cancel each other out.
Jesse Bloom is an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Evolutionary selection is more likely to lead to the spread of a new variant with favorable than unfavorable combinations.
Even though Omicron has an ability to dodge the body's immune defenses, scientists are reluctant to speculate on its attributes because of the phenomenon called epistasis.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa'sPenny Moore said it is important to get a sense of the full virus.
Dr. Moore and his team are trying to understand if current vaccines will work against Omicron. The researchers are creating artificial versions of the virus that contain all of Omicron's genes.
It was a lesson learned when the Beta variant appeared in South Africa. The ability to evade immunity was estimated by them. The two other genes that affected vaccine sensitivity were found in Beta.
The combination of those three genes was more resistant than the only one that contained E484K. Studying the single mutation turned out to be misleading.
Omicron has a variation called N501Y that is thought to allow the virus to bind to human cells more tightly. The Alpha variant had a similar version of the mutation that was linked to its contagiousness.
Delta, which doesn't have that particular mutation, was more transmissible than Alpha. Delta had other genes that enhance transmissibility.
The contagiousness of a variant depends on how well the virus can bind to human cells and how well it can replicate in the lungs.
Omicron has a bunch of genes that are linked to tighter binding to human cells. They might have a different effect if they act together. He can't predict how the variant will act in the body.
Lab studies are underway across the globe.
