Why in News?

• The novel coronavirus mutation called D614G has become the dominant variant in the global COVID-19 pandemic.

About the mutation

• When the virus enters an individual’s body, it aims at creating copies of itself. When it makes an error in this copying process, we get a mutation.
• In this case, the virus replaced the aspartic acid (D) in the 614th position of the amino acid with glycine (G). Hence the mutation is called the D614G.
• The D614G mutation is situated in the spike protein of the virus.
• This particular mutation aids the virus in attaching more efficiently with the ACE2 receptor in the human host, thereby making it more successful in entering a human body than its predecessors. ACE2 is a protein on the surface of many cell types. It is an enzyme that generates small proteins
• A recent study which collected SARS-CoV-2-positive samples from the various States like Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh among others — reveals that the D614G was one of the most prevalent spike mutations even during the initial phase of the pandemic.
• Another study, after conducting experiments, concluded that this particular mutation may not reduce the ability of vaccines in clinical trials to protect against COVID-19 and that the therapeutic antibodies should be tested against the circulating variant of the virus before clinical development.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/what-is-the-d614g-mutation-in-coronavirus/article32992120.ece