Explained: How India s Double Mutant Variant Was Found and What CCMB Plans to Research Now msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology has taken up the challenge of decoding genetic mystery of B.1.617 (AFP)
HYDERABAD: With experts worldwide declaring the socalled double variant or B.1.617, first discovered in Maharashtra, as one of concern, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology has taken up the challenge of decoding its genetic mystery.
“The results will be out in a week or two. We will know then if the new variant that carries several mutations, including two main ones E484Q and L452R is responsible for the spurt in new cases or if it is more infectious than other variants,” said CCMB director Dr Rakesh Kumar Mishra. He said it is a misnomer to call the new variant B.1.617 as a double mutant as it carries several mutations. Also, there are several variants with multiple mutations in circulation.
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Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, April 4
Top genomics expert has said the country must inoculate nearly 60 crore people by July to beat the pandemic lest the virus mutates and acquires lethal virulence.
In an interview with The Tribune, Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Director, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, a key institution in the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics established to study variants, said Punjab needed to pull up its socks as it bore the highest burden of UK variants. Nearly 76 per cent of all UK variants detected in India are in Punjab.
“The UK strain is known to be extremely virulent. But protection measures are the same. Wearing of masks will determine whether people will defeat the virus or end up in hospitals. It is time to start treating people who do not wear masks as anti-social. Masks are that crucial to Covid management,” Mishra said, calling for a cultural movement to promote use of masks.
The Straits Times
Behind the fall and rise of India s coronavirus cases
India had one of the highest Covid-19 cases last year but low fatality rates. Daily infections plunged late last year but are climbing again. The Straits Times explores the issue.
Senior citizens sit in an observation room after being inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Bangalore, on March 5, 2021.PHOTO: AFP
https://str.sg/JjMN
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