Nels and Vincent review evidence that a single amino acid change in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has driven adaptation to humans, followed by an update on the status of variants of concern.
Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello
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Links for this episode
- Selective sweep drove SARS-CoV-2 adaptation (bioRxiv) 5:33
- Novel coronavirus haplotypes 44:16
- Letters read on TWiEVO 65 1:05:06
- Time stamps by Jolene. Thanks!
Science Picks 1:21:23
Nels – Radio Garden
Vincent – Our World in Data – Coronavirus
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Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv
Hi! Thank you so much for what you do! I was wondering if, as another way of looking at what changes might have helped SARS-CoV-2 jump to humans, anyone was looking into infecting bats or appropriate bat cell lines with a virus similar to the one that first made the jump to humans. Any changes that happen after doing that might point to what the “ancestral” bat virus was like, I think.