The Omicron variant may have been created from a recombination of two earlier COVID-19 lineages.
Omicron was a baby formed by two two previous COVID-19 strains.
COVID-19: we might have to tolerate Omicron’s spread
How did this happen?
Research looked at over 4,200 genome sequences to find this information. This information came from the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data repository and National Center for Biotechnology Information. Read more about it here.
It is thought that Omicron is a combination of two previous SARS-CoV-2 lineages.
- Those lineages would have been BA.1 and B.35.
- BA.1 is seen in around 4.17% of all COVID-19 sequences.
- B.35, has only been seen in 0.0019% of sequences.
- The BA.1 lineage is the parent lineage that, when combined with BA.35, created the current omicron variant.
“Research and public health measures should focus on these findings and target the recombination events to prevent the emergence of newer SARS-CoV-2 strains in the future.”
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