Partha Pratim Majumder. Picture: NIBMG.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus began infecting people in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. How has the virus mutated and developed to date? With one to 2 mutations occurring monthly, researchers at the moment are seeing a clade, or a sub-type, of the virus known as A2a changing into extra frequent in COVID-19 infections the world over. Partha P. Majumder, Nidhan Biswas and their colleagues on the Nationwide Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani, West Bengal, have carried out seminal work on analysing the continuing mutations and evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Partha Pratim Majumder is considered one of India’s foremost researchers in statistical genomics and human genome variation. He joins host Pavan Srinath on The Pragati Podcast to unpack viral evolution and perceive the most recent analysis on how SARS-CoV-2 has mutated and developed until date.
The Wire Science is republishing the dialog in partnership with The Pragati Podcast.
Majumder is the founder and a distinguished professor on the NIBMG, and is at the moment the president of the Indian Academy of Sciences. His newest analysis on SARS-COV-2:
- Biswas, N. and Majumder, P.P. Analysis of RNA Sequences of 3636 SARS-CoV-2 Collected from 55 Countries Reveals Selective Sweep of One Virus Type. Indian Journal of Medical Analysis. (In press, April 28, 2020)
- Bhattacharya, C. et al. Global Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Subtype with Spike Protein Mutation D614G is Shaped by Human Genomic Variations that Regulate Expression of TMPRSS2 and MX1 Genes. (preprint, Might 5, 2020)
The A2a clade of the novel coronavirus is distinguished by a mutation that has been labelled D614G. In parallel to Biswas and Majumder’s research of this mutation, Bette Korber and a consortium of scientists from Los Alamos Nationwide Laboratory, New Mexico, and elsewhere uploaded a preprint paper of their research on biorXiv on April 30, additionally figuring out the rising frequency and potential significance of the identical mutation.
Researchers from China shared the first full genetic code – or genome sequence – of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on January 11, 2020. One other group of researchers published their analyses of the primary few genome sequences by early February, 2020.
International and open evaluation of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is mutating and evolving is feasible in 2020 due to earlier efforts on constructing open databases and programs for speedy information sharing, together with applicable credit score for researchers who add genomic information. The International Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Information (GISAID) is a public-private partnership out of Germany that launched in 2008 to encourage higher sharing of influenza information. With COVID-19 changing into a pandemic in 2020, GISAID has develop into the database of alternative for SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences. With sequencing expertise changing into inexpensive and extra accessible with every passing 12 months, as of Might 9, 2020, over 17,700 genome sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been publicly, with a larger quantity being shared each month.
Additionally learn: How COVID-19 Is Shaping the Way Scientists Share Their Work
Different open initiatives, like Nextstrain, have constructed on GISAID and made the monitoring of viral mutations and evolutions simpler by cleansing up the information and permitting researchers to obtain readily analysable information as effectively. China stopped submitting sequences to GISAID in March, and that gap in genomic information is an issue that Majumder additionally highlights within the episode.
— to science.thewire.in
