![]() ![]() There are 13 mutations on Omicron’s spike protein that are rarely seen among other variants. ![]() Omicron hosts twice as many mutations as other variants of concern, and its BA.2 sublineage may have even more. “But we’ve been looking at these variants for a year, so we were prepared,” he adds. That investigative process typically takes a lot longer, says Sriram Subramaniam, a biochemist at the University of British Columbia. ![]() Now, with a year’s worth of knowledge and data, researchers have been able to link some of Omicron’s 50 or so mutations to mechanisms that have helped it spread so quickly and effectively. By the end of February the variant accounted for almost all new COVID infections in the U.S.īack when the Alpha variant was spotted in November 2020, scientists knew little about how its few mutations would affect its behavior. But when Omicron suddenly arrived this past winter, it jumped from person to person so quickly that a single case could give rise to six cases after four days, 36 cases after eight days, and 216 cases after 12 days. One person with the measles virus-a standout among infectious microbes-might infect 15 others within 12 days. The Omicron coronavirus variant was likely the fastest-spreading virus in human history. ![]()
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