The high infectivity of Omicron, a new variant of COVID-19, may be due to a hybrid with some genes from a cold virus, a study has found.



According to the Washington Post, researchers at Nference, an American biomedical information analysis company, recently published a paper containing the sequencing results of omicron mutations.



As a result of the analysis, the Omicron mutation had a genetic code found in a common cold virus, unlike the existing Corona 19 virus.



The genetic code that the researchers found has never been confirmed in any other COVID-19 mutations except for the omicron mutation.



Co-author Benki Sundararajan, a biotechnology expert, said the omicron mutations have “significant” similarities, which could potentially allow COVID-19 to better adapt to the human host and bypass some immune systems.



"As viruses typically evolve in the direction of increased infectivity, they lose characteristics that could cause serious symptoms," he added.



The research results are in the pre-publication stage and have not yet undergone peer review.