November 30, 2020

No Evidence for Increased Transmissibility from Recurrent Mutations in SARS-CoV-2

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

Keywords (Tags): transmission

Phylogenetic analysis of recurrent mutations identified in a dataset of 46,723 SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes isolated from patients across the world did not detect any single mutation that was associated with significantly increased transmission ability; overall SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity was limited. The study focused on identifying homoplasies, traits or sites that independently emerged over time. The authors suggest that recurrent mutations in circulation appeared to result from RNA editing via the human immune system rather than an adaptive process. 

van Dorp et al. (Dec 25, 2020). No Evidence for Increased Transmissibility from Recurrent Mutations in SARS-CoV-2. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19818-2