Evolving to evade immunity.. Scientists draw a picture of the future of humans with Corona

Perhaps more than anything else in recent history, the Covid-19 virus is affecting the world's present in a fundamental way, changing the economic, social and even cultural behaviors of more than seven billion people.

Just as it affected the present, Covid-19 appears to affect the future as well, as scientists expect that the virus will remain present in an “endemic” manner, while the effects of its economic and social repercussions will continue for many years to come.

In addition to four other coronaviruses, Covid-19 represents the fifth episode of "endemic" viruses that humans seem to have learned to live with forever, according to a number of scientists, the latest of whom is evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in California. Washington, USA.

The specialized scientific website Nature reported the results of a study by Bloom, in which he tried to provide a "road map" for the future of the virus and humanity, based on the study of his "colleagues" from other coronaviruses.

Bloom, according to Nature, studied the way humans and viruses interacted for decades, by studying a coronavirus called 229E that causes relatively mild colds in people with it.

The study says that this virus infects people repeatedly throughout their lives for decades, but copies of the virus are resistant to human immunity by mutating themselves, "suggesting that the virus evolves to evade immunity."

And recently, a new study found that the Omicron mutant of the emerging corona virus may have mixed with genetic material from another virus that causes the usual seasonal cold, which may explain the speed of its spread compared to other mutagens, and it also explains that it does not infect humans with serious symptoms, according to what was reported by the “Washington Post” newspaper. ".

Researchers from Nevers, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, analyzed the genetic infiltration data of the Omicron strain, finding fragments of the genetic code in the new variant of another cold-causing virus.

Bloom reached this conclusion after studying the antigens present in the blood of those infected with the virus since 1980 until today.

"People are immune to viruses from the recent past, but not to those in the future," he says. "Now that we have nearly two years to see how the Covid virus evolves, I think there are clear similarities with 229E."

Variants such as omicron and delta carry mutations that limit the power of antibodies that fight the "copies" of the virus, which means that the virus outruns immunity obtained in humans, whether through infection or vaccination, by mutating itself "to evade human immunity".

A new study found that the omicron variant of the emerging corona virus may have picked up genetic material from another corona virus that causes colds in humans, indicating the possibility of the new mutant spreading quickly without infecting humans with serious symptoms, according to what the Washington Post reported.

 The site says that how the Covid virus develops over the next few months and years will determine the end of the story of this virus, whether the virus turns into a cause of mild colds, or to cause more serious symptoms.

And he quotes the study, “The global vaccination doses that have provided nearly 8 billion doses have given a boost to changing the evolutionary landscape, and it is not clear how the virus will meet this challenge,” adding, “At the same time, with some countries lifting restrictions on combating the spread of the virus, opportunities increase.” In front of the virus to make great evolutionary leaps.”

Scientists tracking the evolution of Covid are looking for two broad classes of changes in the virus, one of which makes it more contagious, and the other that enables it to overcome the host's immune response.

The three variants spread across the globe, notably Alpha, which sparked new waves of COVID-19 as it came to dominate in Europe, North America, the Middle East and beyond.

Evolutionary biologist Trevor Bedford says the virus must balance its ability to reproduce at high levels in the human airways, and keep the infected person healthy enough to infect new hosts.

"The virus does not want to put someone to bed and make them so sick that they prevent them from seeing other people," he added.

"One way for the virus to reach this result is to grow to lower levels within the airways, but increase the duration of infection," Bedford says.

If the virus develops in this way, it may become less severe, but, according to Bedford, "there are no certain guarantees."

 A document prepared by a British government scientific advisory group in July sparked debate about the possibility that Covid-19 could become more severe or capable of evolving into a significantly different coronavirus, by infecting animals such as minkes or white-tailed deer.

 Also, a very effective wave of vaccination, according to the site, can lead to the virus's ability to mutate, and may completely erase it.

"The pandemic has exposed the fragility of American infrastructure, including technology," the New York Times quoted Ryan Calo, founding director of the Technology Policy Laboratory at the University of Washington, as saying.

According to Calo, "You have to address the problems, not just immediate, but those that are expected to occur over the next 10 years or so."

So far, the federal government has committed $4.52 trillion in response to Covid-19 — their massive sliver of over the entire 2019 federal budget.

The Guardian newspaper revealed that the largest oil and gas companies achieved profits of $ 174 billion in the first nine months of the year, days after US President Joe Biden warned that high gasoline prices in the United States were harming low-income people.

More than $1 trillion in direct aid has been allocated to Americans in economic need, including $464 billion in additional unemployment benefits and $695 billion in stimulus packages, and nearly $428 billion in programs to help small businesses.

All this money that entered the economic cycle, catalyzed fundamental changes in the American economy, according to the newspaper.

And another 600 billion was awarded to improve medical care and medical research, especially those related to viruses, in addition to an ambitious infrastructure plan of more than one trillion dollars, which President Biden recently signed.

All of this huge money will have positive effects - mostly - according to the newspaper, on the US economy, and the global economy, whose countries have also allocated varying amounts of money to improve their economies, infrastructure and medical plans after the virus.

Problems in the supply sector, shipping chains and products have led countries like the United States to seriously consider increasing their self-reliance in the technology sector, rather than relying on imports from other countries.

So did a number of European countries.

Just as Corona changed the policies of countries, it also changed the policies of companies that resort more to remote employment, which poses problems regarding the privacy of employees, working times, and the separation between work and private life.

And on Monday, a company's dismissal of 900 of its employees in a Zoom meeting sparked a lot of controversy.

And the American Business Insider website said that the CEO of the Better real estate company dismissed hundreds of employees with a conference call, which sparked a lot of resentment, especially since the dismissal was through an electronic application, and came shortly before the holiday season.

After the dismissal was announced, emails from the company were leaked about the manager, Vishal Garg, resenting the "stealing" of about 250 employees of company time by working just two hours a day.

Many of these employees work remotely.

COVID-19 infections continue to rise in Europe, stoking fears of the virus spreading more widely around the world amid the emergence of the new omicron mutant.

The site said that employees' work data was collected by reviewing their phone and computer records that they use, but many of them objected, saying that much of the work was done away from computers and phones.

It makes such a challenge a necessity for enacting labor laws in line with the new challenges posed by Corona.

In addition to this, the virus has prompted many people to change the way they celebrate and communicate with other people.

The new variable and the increase in cases prompted several European countries to re-impose strict restrictions to combat the outbreak of the epidemic, weeks before Christmas, amid fears of a more difficult winter in which hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid cases.

Despite the uncertainty about the impact of the Omicron mutated on the course of the epidemic, European countries are moving to impose stricter restrictions during Christmas celebrations, after the continent became the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in recent weeks, according to the American newspaper.

However, some European governments were reluctant to impose new blanket local restrictions ahead of the peak travel period and large gatherings, especially since Europe imposed a blanket lockdown at the same time last year.

And many European countries have resorted to restricting travel and requesting more checks on travelers coming to them.

The New York Times says that this change "may last forever, or for a very long time."

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