‘Deltacron’ variant prompts doubts among experts as possible lab error
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Covid Lab technicians in India, Friday January 7, 2022
Getty Images| Bloomberg | Getty Images
According to global experts, Covid-19’s new mutation could be caused by a mistake in lab processing.
The potential new variant was discovered by a Cypriot researcher, according to reports. Bloomberg News reported SaturdayLeondios Kostrikis, professor of biology at the University of Cyprus called the strain “deltacron” due to its similar genetic signatures in the delta genomes.
Kostrikis said that 25 cases had been identified. The report also stated that it wasn’t possible to know if there are more mutations or the potential impact of them. Bloomberg reports that Gisaid is an international virus database which tracks the changes to the virus.
Deltacron “not real”
Some experts are now questioning the conclusions. On Sunday, a World Health Organization official tweeted that the trending topic of “deltacron” was “not real” but “is probably due to sequencing artifact”, a variant introduced through a non-biological process.
Krutika Kuppalli, WHO Covid expert, stated on Twitter that there had been “lab contamination of Omicron fragments within a Delta specimen.”
Another tweet she sent was a wry observation: “Let’s not combine names of infectious diseases and leave the rest to celebrities”
Others scientists agree that these findings may be due to a laboratory error. Dr. Tom Peacock, virologist at Imperial College London tweeted that “the Cypriot Deltacron” sequences that were reported by large media outlets appear to have been contamination.
He also tweeted that “quite many of us have taken a look at sequences and came to the same conclusion that it doesn’t seem like a true recombinant.” This refers to possible genetic material rearrangements.
Fatima Tokhmafshan (a geneticist at the McGill University Health Centre) agreed and tweeted that this was not a “recombinant”, but rather “rather laboratory contamination b/c”. [because] looking at recent GISAID submission from Cyprus the clustering & mutational profile indicate NO mutation consensus.”
Another high-profile scientist, Dr. Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, an infectious diseases expert at Emory University in Atlanta, advised a cautionary approach, tweeting on Sunday that “On the #deltacron story, just because I have been asked about it many times in the last 24h, please interpret with caution. Information currently available indicates that contamination of the sample is more likely than true recombination between #delta or #omicron variants.
But she did note that there is the potential for mixing genetic material of both the delta-omicron and other variants. It is possible as the strains are still in circulation.
Coronaviruses may undergo recombination. Their genome replication enzyme has the tendency to slip off the RNA strand that it’s copying, and rejoin it where it left off. This is what it does. #deltaAnd #omicronShe tweeted that both were in circulation and dual infections with the variants increase this concern.”
According to Bloomberg, the scientist that announced “deltacron discovery” on Sunday has refuted his assertions, stating that it was not due “technical error”.
Kostrikis explained in an e-mail statement that the mutations he identified are evidence of an evolutionary pressure on an ancestral strain and not due to a single recombination.
According to him, the results were made after samples had been processed using multiple sequence procedures in different countries. He claimed that at least one Israeli sequence deposited into a global database exhibited genetic characteristics similar to “deltacron.” CNBC has reached out to Kostrikis seeking further comments. However, no response has been received.
Michael Hadjipantela (Cyprus’ Health Minister) said that the ministry had received reports regarding “deltacron” but it wasn’t something that should be worried about. according to a local media report.
He said that more information on the variant disputable will be available this week and that he is proud of the nation’s scientists for their discoveries.
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