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A spike protein mutation D614G became dominant in SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the D614G 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.
• This mutated form of the virus was first identified in China and then in Europe.
• Later it spread to other countries like the U.S. and Canada and was eventually reported in India.

How is this mutation different?

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.

Effects of the mutation?

D614G show increased infectivity and also displayed greater ability at attaching itself to the cell walls inside an individual’s nose and throat, increasing the viral load.

Source: The Hindu