The report, which was tabled before Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan by the Department of Biotechnology Saturday, states that the A2a haplotype has rooted out any other haplotypes that existed before.
THE FIRST report in India on the genome of SARS-CoV-2 has found that a particular variant of the virus brought in mainly by travellers from Europe has become the most prominent across the country, giving rise to the hope that it may be easier to deal with a more “homogenous’’ entity than those with different lineages.
According to scientists involved in the study, the finding also suggests that the stringent nationwide lockdown that was in place between March and May “has actually worked’’ since the ban on international and inter-state travel “prevented the entry of new lineages of the virus”.
The report, which was tabled before Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan by the Department of Biotechnology Saturday, states that the A2a haplotype has rooted out any other haplotypes that existed before. A haplotype is a group of genes, which is inherited together by an organism from a single parent.
The study found that haplotype diversions peaked between March and May, before the A2a haplotype emerged as predominant by June.
The study also found that the D164G gene variant, a global characteristic of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, is on the decline in Delhi, which may have possibly resulted in a “decline in transmission” in the capital.❑
The Indian Express
