First image of the omicron shows dangerous mutations of the variant; meet

Researchers have produced the first “picture” of Covid’s omicron variant and its considerable number of mutations.

The three-dimensional image, which compares the mutations of the new strain with those of the delta variant, was produced by researchers at the Bambino Gesù hospital in Rome.

“This does not automatically mean that these mutations are more dangerous, it simply says that the virus has adapted once again to the human species, generating another variant”, the researchers reported on Sunday (28). “Other studies will tell us whether this adaptation is neutral, less or more dangerous.”

Uncontrolled transmission encourages the emergence of new variants. In this regard, there is constant criticism of the poor distribution and availability of Covid vaccines around the world, with immunization agents concentrated in rich countries.

The Bambino Gesù research team focused on finding mutations at the level “in the three-dimensional structure of the Spike protein”, explained to AFP Claudia Alteri, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Milan and a researcher at the Italian hospital.

This protein is “responsible for recognizing the human receptor and the entry of the virus into cells”, experts say. The Spike protein is the target of many of today’s vaccines, and therefore substantial changes to this protein raise vaccine concerns.

The image was taken from sequencing of the new variant provided to the scientific community and coming mainly from Botswana, South Africa and Hong Kong.

Alteri states that, although the image looks like a map of the variant, with it it is not possible to define the role of mutations.

“From now on, it will be important to define, through laboratory experiments, whether these combinations can have an impact on the transmission or the effectiveness of vaccines, for example,” said the expert.