![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
04-12-2021, 11:02 AM
December 4, 2021
7:44 AM +08
Last Updated 4 hours ago
By Nancy Lapid
NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.
This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.
By inserting this particular snippet into itself, Omicron might be making itself look "more human," which would help it evade attack by the human immune system
......
This could mean the virus transmits more easily, while only causing mild or asymptomatic disease.
......
South Africa, where Omicron was first identified, has the world's highest rate of HIV, which weakens the immune system and increases a person's vulnerability to infections with common-cold viruses and other pathogens. In that part of the world, there are many people in whom the recombination that added this ubiquitous set of genes to Omicron might have occurred
......
"We probably missed many generations of recombinations" that occurred over time and that led to the emergence of Omicron
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthc...021-12-03/
7:44 AM +08
Last Updated 4 hours ago
By Nancy Lapid
NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.
This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.
By inserting this particular snippet into itself, Omicron might be making itself look "more human," which would help it evade attack by the human immune system
......
This could mean the virus transmits more easily, while only causing mild or asymptomatic disease.
......
South Africa, where Omicron was first identified, has the world's highest rate of HIV, which weakens the immune system and increases a person's vulnerability to infections with common-cold viruses and other pathogens. In that part of the world, there are many people in whom the recombination that added this ubiquitous set of genes to Omicron might have occurred
......
"We probably missed many generations of recombinations" that occurred over time and that led to the emergence of Omicron
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthc...021-12-03/
