Omicron has over 50 mutations compared to the original coronavirus strain. About it RIA News said adviser to the president of the Center for Strategic Research (CSR), candidate of biological sciences Evgeny Tonevitsky.
According to him, more than 30 of them are in the S-protein of the coronavirus, and more than 10 changes are in the “predator fragment”, with the help of which the virus interacts with the “victim cell”. The biologist noted that some mutations increase the speed and efficiency of coronavirus penetration into human cells, and some hide it from antibodies. Also, some mutations are likely designed to optimize the production and assembly of viral copies after entering the cell, he added.
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The expert emphasized that these changes led to a reduction in the incubation period of the virus to three days. In addition, another feature of the omicron is that it prefers to multiply in the upper respiratory tract, while not descending into the lungs and without causing significant damage to this organ.
Earlier, Andrey Isaev, the founder and CEO of the DNAOM Research Center for Molecular Genetic Research, said that the antibodies that are produced in the human body after being infected with omicron provide very little protection against other strains of coronavirus. Isaev spoke about a recently published study, according to which immunity after the transferred omicron does not work well for protection against the delta strain.
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