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Scientists have identified at least eight strains of coronavirus as the bug wreaks havoc spreading across the globe. More than 2,000 genetic sequences of the virus have been submitted from labs to the open database NextStain, which shows it mutating on maps in realtime, according to the site. Researchers said the data, which includes samples every continent except Antarctica, revealed the virus is mutating on average every 15 days, National Geographic reported. But Nextstrain cofounder Trevor Bedford said the mutations are so small that there is no strain of the virus that is more harmful. “These mutations are completely benign and useful as a puzzle piece to uncover how the virus is spreading,” Bedford told the outlet.
“We’ll be able to tell how much less transmission we’re seeing and answer the question, ‘Can we take our foot off the gas?’” Bedford said. Charles Chiu, a professor of medicine and infectious disease at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, said that the database also provides insight into how the virus is moving throughout the US, according to USA Today.
“The outbreaks are trackable,” Chiu said. “We have the ability to do genomic sequencing almost in real-time to see what strains or lineages are circulating.” Most of the cases on the West Coast are linked to a strain first identified in Washington state, which is only three mutations away from the first known strain, the outlet reported. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, the virus appeared to have come from China to Europe and then to New York and other states.
