The virus that causes COVID-19 is widespread in wildlife, Virginia Tech scientists find

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0:52 The virus that causes COVID-19 is widespread in wildlife, Virginia Tech scientists find

By:

Matt Chittum

16 Jul 2024 330

An animated simulation of how SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, adapts and mutates to survive in a new host, such as common wildlife. Read more.

Imagine a virus is like a key, and the cells that can infect are like the locks. A virus can't infect just any cell of any animal. It needs to find a cell with the right lock, called a receptor, or change its key, the viral proteins, to fit a new lock. To do this, a key needs to change shape by acquiring mutations to fit the new lock. This is what Carla Finkelstein and the Virginia Tech molecular diagnostic lab at Frailm Biomedical Research Institute, noted with the keys present in SARS COV two when the virus jumped to wild species like possums and squirrels. The key S protein acquired at least two mutations displayed in yellow in this simulation that provided an evolutionary path for the virus to jump and transmit to other species. The purple part is the receptor that's recognized by the S protein so the virus can enter.