Sign In
Learn bits
Science & Tech.
Mahesh

27/09/22 21:01 PM IST

Khosta-2

In News 
  • As the world is recovering from the onslaught of the COVID pandemic, scientists have flagged concerns over the discovery of a new COVID-like virus — Khosta-2.
  • It is not detected in China but in Russia and is found in bats.
Khosta- 2 virus 
  • The zoonotic virus is capable of infecting humans.
  • This is unlike the Khosta-1, which is also found in Russian bats but cannot easily spread to humans.
  • Khosta-2 has been classified as sarbecovirus, a member of the coronavirus family.
  • It is related to SARS-CoV-2, which is causing a worldwide pandemic.
  • Khosta-2 was discovered in bat samples obtained from Sochi National Park between March and October 2020, when the world was struggling to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2.
  • The pathogen is capable of infecting human cells similar to SARS-CoV-2. It attaches to the ACE-2 entrance enzyme, which is located on the surface of the human cells with a spike-like protein on the surface.
  • While its method of infection is similar to SARS-CoV-2, Koshta-2 is not effective.
  • Scientists have combined the Khosta-2 with serum obtained from individuals vaccinated against COVID-19. They found that the antibodies in the serum were not able to neutralize the pathogen.
About sarbecovirus
  • Severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus or sarbecovirus is an enveloped positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that enters the host cells by latching on to the ACE2 receptor.
  • It is capable of infecting humans, bats and other mammals.
Source- Indian Express 

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

05 Mar

Arresting women at night

'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in Deepa versus S. Vijayalakshmi and Others ruled that the legal provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which

Read More

05 Mar

Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

'The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) looking to wrap up public consultations on the draft Rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 by Mar

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps