Explained: The mutated strain of COVID-19 in UK and its implications

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing threat all around the globe since March 2020 but even the end of the year got more complicated as a new mutant has been discovered in the United Kingdom. The UK believes there are still too many unknowns when it comes to this ‘mutated’ version of coronavirus.

The new variant, code-named as B.1.1.7, has been widely tracked in the recent cases in the UK. DNA tries to explain what this mutated COVID-19 virus is all about.

First and foremost, what is a mutation?

Mutation refers to the change in genetic sequence of the virus. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, which is an 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.

What does this new mutation in COVID-19 mean?

UK researchers have identified it as N501Y. The virus carrying this mutation has caused 1,100 new infections in 60 local authority areas, according to reports quoting UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

“Coronaviruses mutate all the time. So it is not unexpected that new variants of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) are emerging, we see this all the time in other human and animal coronaviruses,” Prof Julian Hiscox, Chair in Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, was quoted as saying.

How concerned should we be by this mutation?

Mutations will keep happening and the new virus variants will survive or disappear depending upon our immune response and their ability to multiply and transmit. But all SARS-CoV-2 strains are genetically similar to one another, and scientists do not expect these mutations to have a significant impact on their ability to cause more severe disease than what has been observed so far.

“Many mutations mean nothing at all, or at least are more successful for reasons we don’t know. For instance a different strain may be more transmissible, but cause less disease. Bottom line is that we need to monitor, but at present, there is no evidence that the new strain in UK is more transmissible nor severe nor resistant to treatment or vaccination,” Dr Marc-Alain Widdowson, Director of Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Has this mutated strain reached India?

Scientists at CCMB have analysed several thousand SARS-CoV-2 genomes from India available in the public domain. There are no indications so far that the UK mutation has more affinity to the ACE-2 receptor (the human protein with which the virus spike protein binds). Also, it is not proven that there are clinical and immunological consequences.

Is this strain more dangerous?

The UK government officials suspect that the new variant could be more transmissible than the earlier versions of the virus. While scientists are still trying to understand the accurate explanation for this, some of them agree with the government's reasoning.

"It is right to take it seriously. Although there are only 23 mutations in the genetic code of 30,000 nucleotides, the variant does seem about 40-70 per cent more transmissible,” Prof Peter Openshaw, former President of the British Society for Immunology, said.