Efrem Lim, ASU Biodesign Institute (IMAGE)
Caption
'One of the reasons why this mutation is of interest is because it mirrors a large deletion that arose in the 2003 SARS outbreak,' said Lim, an assistant professor at ASU's Biodesign Institute. During the middle and late phases of the SARS epidemic, SARS-CoV accumulated mutations that attenuated the virus. Scientists believe that a weakened virus that causes less severe disease may have a selective advantage if it is able to spread efficiently through populations by people who are infected unknowingly.
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ASU Biodesign Institute
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