Mastodawn

RE: https://zeroes.ca/@datum/116288248099142236

at the beginning of the pandemic some scientists created a site graphing all its mutations and it blew mind by how many there were.

i think they stopped due to the speed of reports. am assuming its a consequence of how well epidemiology systems are integrated to the internet.

SO:

1. are we seeing more mutations vs other viruses due to faster reporting or because the virus itself is prone to mutate fast?

2. what makes #SARSCOV2 mutate so much? reinfections w/o immunity?

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Clifton Royston 1d ago

@blogdiva

In 2020 when I read the virus outbreak was coronavirus I thought "Oh shit."

Coronaviruses, as a family, have been known for many years to have a particularly fast mutation rate.

There are many viruses which cause the "common cold"; some of those are coronaviruses and mutate fast, which is why there's never been a vaccine for the cold and might never be. This is one reason the original SARS virus outbreak was so worrisome and triggered a huge world-wide effort to shut it down.

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Howard Chu @ Symas

@CliftonR @blogdiva it's interesting to think about. Fast mutation really means its genetic code is pretty unstable, getting transcription errors with high frequency as it reproduces. But also coupled with a fast reproduction rate so it continues to survive even with a lot of errors.