HealthDay Reports: Mutation Helps Coronavirus Infect More Human Cells, Study Shows
New lab research shows why a certain mutation of the new coronavirus may have helped it infect more human cells.
Mutation Helps Coronavirus Infect More Human Cells, Study Shows
SATURDAY, June 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A particular mutation in one strain of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus may have helped it infect more human cells and turn it into the dominant strain worldwide, new laboratory research shows.
Researchers at Scripps Research in Jupiter, Fla., stressed that their finding doesn't mean the virus is any more lethal. And because this was research conducted in a lab, it doesn't yet confirm that the mutation makes the strain more likely to spread among people, they added.
Still, "viruses with this mutation were much more infectious than those without the mutation in the cell culture system we used," study senior author and virologist Hyeryun Choe, said in a Scripps news release.