"The omicron variant has over 50 genetic mutations in the viral genome. Many of these mutations are found in the spike protein region," Weatherhead says. "Some of the individual mutations suggest that the omicron variant may be more transmissible or evade immune responses. Despite the association of these mutations with transmissibility and immune evasion, the clinical impact of omicron remains unknown because of the phenomenon of epistasis."
If you didn't quite catch all of that, here's a guide to help.
Mutation: A mutation is a change in a virus's genetic code. Mutations are a normal part of viral replication. Viruses make copies of themselves as they spread within a human. Mutations happen when a mistake is made during copying. In rare instances, mutations change the behavior of the virus. Most of the time, they don't.
Variant: In essence, a variant is a version of the virus with a slightly different genetic sequence because of the appearance of mutations. Many mutations quickly disappear as the virus spreads. But sometimes, mutations stick around and get passed down to future generations of the virus. Over time, the virus can accumulate a unique set of mutations that make it distinct from other versions of the virus. These distinct versions are called variants.
Variant of concern (VOC): The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitor variants and alert the public to variants of concern that could pose added risk because of "increased transmissibility, increased severity of disease or decreased effectiveness of public health interventions [diagnostic tests, preventive measures like vaccines or therapeutic measures like monoclonal antibodies]," Weatherhead explains.
Transmissibility: The ability of a virus to spread from infected people to others. The delta variant is more transmissible than previous variants because of mutations on its spike protein, which make it better at attaching to and infecting cells. There is concern that omicron could be even more transmissible than the highly transmissible delta variant, but we don't know yet whether that is the case.
Immune evasion: After an infection or a vaccine, your body produces antibodies that can detect and kill the virus upon a subsequent exposure. Sometimes a virus can mutate in a way that helps it evade or escape detection by those antibodies. That's what scientists call "immune evasion." There's
preliminary evidence that omicron could be much better at immune evasion than the delta variant or any other variant before it because of the specific mutations on its spike protein.
Outcompete: In sports, if you outcompete other athletes by getting to the finish line first or scoring more points, you're No. 1. In the world of viruses, winning is more akin to the reality show
Survivor; viruses can evolve to infect more people — or to infect them faster — than previous variants and become No. 1. "It's basically survival of the fittest," Binnicker explains. "Delta showed us it was king of the hill. We'll have to see over the next two to four weeks if omicron is better at transmitting than delta." If it is, it will likely push delta out of many regions of the world and could become the dominate variant.
