Will mutations make the Corona virus weaker and lead to its disappearance?

How do new strains of the new Corona virus (Covid-19) arise?

How many mutated strains have appeared around the world?

What is the most dangerous type?

Will mutations make the virus weaker and lead to its disappearance?

And why do the new breeds seem more powerful and dangerous?

We addressed these questions to Dr. Kabir Biswas, Assistant Professor at the College of Health and Life Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, and he answered them in detail in an interview on Al-Jazeera Net.

• How do the strains of the emerging corona virus originate?

A viral infection is characterized by the production of multiple copies of the virus, either in the form of very small viral particles or entire viral fragments, in the infected host cell.

These viral copies are then released to cause additional infection of cells, which leads to infection of the body's systems.

This requires the coordinated production of a greater number of copies of the viral genome and structural proteins and their packaging in lipid membranes.

This process also applies to coronaviruses, including the "Covid-19" virus.

Given that genomic reproduction does not provide complete evidence, there is always a possibility that a viral genome mutation is possible, either due to the substitution of one nucleotide by another or its elimination altogether.

Although many of these mutations damage the reproduction and infection of the coronavirus, some of them may increase its ability to reproduce and cause coronavirus infection.

Coronaviruses may appear as a changed or new strain because of the advantage they have compared to the original strain, and the danger of these viruses may be exacerbated by the pressure produced on the host immune system, by producing neutral antibodies to confront the mother strain.

• How many mutated strains have appeared around the world?

Despite the presence of a large number of individual genetic mutations of the Corona virus - its scientific name "SARS-CoV-2" - that could be identified, only a few of them have been identified as true mutated strains of the virus.

These mutations include the "B.1.1.7" strain in the United Kingdom, the "B.1.351" strain in South Africa, and the "P1" strain in Brazil.

• What is the most dangerous type of these strains?

Although it is difficult to identify a specific strain of the Covid-19 virus as the most dangerous strain at this stage, it appears that the British strain is more contagious than the original virus.

On the other hand, it appears that the South African strain is resistant to the immune response resulting from receiving a specific vaccine, and therefore it may be more dangerous than the British strain.

• A few days ago, it was announced that a mutated strain had been discovered in Tunisia.

  Are there details about this strain?

The newly discovered new strain of the virus in Tunisia is the British "B.1.1.7" strain, which contains 17 mutations, including those on the protein prominences that the virus uses to bind to ACE2 receptors in the host cell membrane.

The mutated protein profile appears to bind better to ACE receptors, and this may enhance the ability of the virus to cause infection in the British strain.

Biswas: Mutations of the Coronavirus genome may enhance or reduce the possibility and severity of infection (Hamad Bin Khalifa University)

• Are there other strains discovered in the Arab countries?

It seems that there are no other strains of Corona virus, other than the British strain that has been reported to exist in some Arab countries.

• Some say the mutations will make the virus weaker and lead to its disappearance.

  Is that correct?

  And why do the new strains appear to be more powerful and dangerous than is said?

As mentioned at the beginning, mutations that occur in the genome of the virus can enhance or decrease the possibility and severity of the infection.

In this regard, mutations that reduce the virus’s ability to infect contribute to the disappearance of the virus, while mutations that enhance its ability to infect increase the rate at which people become infected and spread.

This is exactly the reason why new strains of the SARS-Cove-2 virus that contain genetic mutations appear more powerful and dangerous, and this gives them an advantage over the original strain.

• Could existing vaccines be ineffective in dealing with new strains?

  What can be done if this is proven?

Yes, it is possible that certain types of the virus are resistant to the immune response resulting from receiving a specific vaccine.

This appears to be the case for the mutated strain in South Africa that can cause mild symptoms of Covid-19 virus in patients who received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

To deal with this problem, we must pay more attention to measuring the effectiveness of individual vaccines against specific types of mutated strains of SARS-Cove-2 virus.

This will not only help us determine which vaccines will be allocated for vaccination in a specific geographical area or specific population groups, but it will also help us in producing more effective vaccines.

More optimistically, these efforts may one day lead to the development of a universal vaccine that would make us immune to a wide range of viral infections.

• When will life return to normal until people stop wearing masks?

It is really difficult to predict at this stage when life will return to normal, and the need to wear masks or other precautions will end.

This will certainly depend on our response to the pandemic, including our commitment to the established precautions, and giving the vaccines currently available to a larger group of people so that the virus is not able to spread as quickly as it spread at the start of the pandemic.

Most importantly, the emergence of new, mutated strains will likely alter the dynamics of dealing with the virus.