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A study by the Brazilian coronavirus genomic sequencing project identified a mutation in the P.1 variant that converges with the more transmissible delta variant, scientists from the Genov project announced Thursday.
According to Genov, a scientific genomic monitoring project by the Dasa Healthcare Network, 11 of the 1,380 samples analyzed by the project between May and June showed the P681H mutation, replacing the amino acid proline with another histidine.
“It’s called gamma-plus, a convergent mutation with characteristics of delta, a variant that usually presents this structural change,” Genov said in a statement about the discovery.
According to Jose Eduardo Levi, coordinator of Genov and virologist at Dasa, this mutation from proline to histidine had already been observed in other forms in the world, including all forms of anxiety, but it was not very common in gamma. “However, we have seen an increase in its incidence in samples from Brazil,” he said.
The delta variant, which originated in India, has become the dominant coronavirus disease in the world and is responsible for new outbreaks of COVID-19 in countries where the disease was under control, such as the United Kingdom and the United States. .
In Brazil, however, the P.1 variant originating in Manaus is still dominant. According to experts, due to the strong presence of P.1, Delta may face a kind of impediment to move ahead in the country, also known as Gamma.
