On the 4th, medical staff at Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital in Jung-gu, Daegu, are heading to the ward for confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). / Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Seunggon Han, Intern Reporter Juhyung Lim] Chinese research has revealed that the virus causing the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has already undergone mutations.
According to this research, two types of COVID-19 variants have recently emerged, one of which has stronger invasiveness and transmissibility.
A research team composed of Chinese experts published a paper in the March issue of "National Science Review," issued by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stating that the COVID-19 virus has mutated into S type and L type.
The paper lists Lu Jian, a researcher at the Bioinformatics Center of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University, and Cui Jie, a researcher at the Shanghai Pasteur Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as the primary authors.
In the paper, the team stated, "By analyzing the molecular evolution process of 103 COVID-19 genomes, we identified 149 mutation sites," and "we confirmed that many of these mutations occurred recently."
They further explained, "Among the 149 mutations, 101 belong to the two variants, S type and L type," and "the S type is almost identical to the original COVID-19 virus, but the L type has much stronger infectivity."
They added, "In Wuhan, China, where the number of patients exploded, the L type was predominantly spread during the early stages of infection," and analyzed that "the L type has stronger invasiveness and transmissibility than the original virus."
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