According to scientists who are closely studying the genetic code of the new pathogen, coronavirus is not undergoing significant mutations as it circulates from person to person. This relative stability implies that the virus is unlikely to become more dangerous or less dangerous as it spreads and is good news for scientists aiming to create a long-lasting vaccine.
All viruses evolve over time, accumulate mutations as they reproduce within a single human cell, and then spread to the majority of the population. Some of these mutations survive natural selection. The new coronavirus looks the same everywhere, scientists say, and there is no evidence that some versions are more deadly than others.
Scientists are studying more than 1,000 samples of the virus, informed The Washington Post's Peter Thielen, a molecular geneticist at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory studying the virus.
The version of the virus that spread to Wuhan and the version that spread to the United States have four to ten genetic differences, he said.
"It's about a relatively small number of mutations in a virus that has affected a large number of people," Thielen said. "At the moment we are talking about, the mutation rate of the virus means that the vaccine that will be developed for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) will be single and provide long-term protection."
At present, a series of vaccines are being developed for Covid-19, but according to experts it takes at least 12-18 months before being widely used.
Source: The Washington Post
