Topics Covered: Issues related to health.
What is the South African Covid variant?
Context:
The WHO has identified three new variants of coronavirus originating in the UK, Brazil and now in South Africa.
What’s the concern?
- Of the three, the latest South African variant known as 20H/501Y.V2 or B.1.351, is different from the one in Britain and appears to be more infectious than the original virus.
- The South African variant carries a mutation called N501Y that appears to make it more contagious or easy to spread, a report in The New York Times said.
- Also, the WHO has said this variant “is less susceptible to antibody neutralisation” than previous variants.
Why do viruses mutate?
A mutation just means a difference; a letter change in the genome.
- Mutations in viruses are a natural part of evolution.
- The pressure on the virus to evolve is increased by the fact that so many millions of people have now been infected.
In the case of SARS-CoV-2, which is an Ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus, a mutation means a change in the sequence in which its molecules are arranged.
- A mutation in an RNA virus often happens when the virus makes a mistake while it is making copies of itself.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- What is Covid 19?
- What is mutation?
- What is mRNA?
- What is RT- PCR test?
Mains Link:
Discuss the concerns associated with mutations of Covid- 19 virus.
Sources: the Hindu.
