COVID-19 One Year Later: The Biology and the Business
As the world hits the one-year anniversary of COVID-19, GEN looks at the work being done to combat the pandemic
January 8, 2021
As this image shows, the SARS-CoV-2 virion is studded with proteins, one of which is the so-called spike protein. The spike, which consists of two subunits, S1 and S2, took center stage early in the COVID-19 pandemic and has become a key component in the development of vaccines and therapeutics. [Design Cells/Getty Images]
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The days are long, but the years are short.” This bittersweet saying, which is often shared with new parents, may apply to everyone who has been living through the COVID-19 pandemic although what we’re experiencing is almost entirely bitter and not at all sweet. Over the past 12 months, SARS-CoV-2, an RNA virus that carries a mere 29,903 nucleotides, has devastated our communities, disabling economies and taking far too many lives. However, as we hit the grim one-year ann
A child in a medical mask during a coronavirus pandemic.
Last week, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Parliament that at least 60 municipalities recorded Covid-19 infections that had been caused by a new variant of the virus, the BBC reported. He informed MPs of a sharp, exponential rise in coronavirus infections across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.
Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority on Saturday night notified all the airlines flying to Israel that non-Israelis will no longer be allowed to fly to Israel from the UK because of the new mutation. The ban includes passengers on connection flights that stop in the UK.
What we know about the new Covid-19 strain in England
Viruses mutate all the time and coronaviruses less so than some others, such as the ones that cause influenza
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Stephen Fidler
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Scientists are hurrying to understand why a new strain of the coronavirus that emerged in England in September appears to be spreading far more rapidly than earlier variants.
The early conclusion, according to British scientists, is that the virus has mutated to change the so-called spike protein on the surface of the virus, increasing the protein’s ability to cling onto and enter human cells. These changes allow the mutation, known as N501Y, to spread 70% faster than earlier versions of the virus, early analysis suggests.