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RR:C19 Hot Topics: Emerging Variants
Tag
Created Apr 14, 2021
A collection of new and timely preprints, RR:C19 reviews, and commentary around Emerging Variants.
RR:C19 recognizes the importance of keeping researchers, policy makers, and the public informed of the most late-breaking information and the public discourse around emerging variants. On this page, we curate scientific information of public interest by offering content from the RR:C19 editorial team and leading experts, links to RR:C19 reviewed preprints and current preprints under review. We hope this site will serve as both an educational resource and a forum to generate broader public discussion.
Why are Variants an important COVID-19 topic? In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, basic research efforts rapidly generated foundational knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity, while pandemic response efforts established technological infrastructure to track and understand emerging viral variants. In doing so, the COVID-19 research community has come to better understand the functional consequences certain mutations may have for transmission prevalence, disease severity, and vaccine efficacy. Knowledge from these efforts has raised concerns COVID-19 persistence and introduction of new COVID-19 treatment options, such as vaccines, could give rise to new, more dangerous variants. Consensus identifying variants-of-concern (VOCs) are challenged by the wealth of information currently available and poor communication between researchers and the public. |
Key Updates
RR:C19 scours and assesses preprint servers every week of the year. This is an updated list of what we are seeing.
RT
Published: Aug 10, 2021
As the Olympics begin, there are still limited data on the effects of large sports events, regardless of the large research efforts
MP
RT
Published: Aug 10, 2021
The U.K. allowed mass gatherings and attempted to study them, but the early results provide limited data on viral transmission
MP
RT
Published: May 24, 2021
COVID Clickbait: Texas A&M sensationalizes BV-1 variant while promoting university-sponsored sequencing efforts.
RT
Published: Apr 21, 2021
FAQ regarding highly propagating “Double Mutant” strain B.1.617 now detected in the UK
AR
KC
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SK
JC
Published: Apr 15, 2021
Reviewers: Art Reingold (UC Berkeley) | 📗📗📗📗◻️ • Konstantin Chumakov (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️ • Shivakumar Narayanan, Shyam Kottilil, Joel V. Chua (University of Maryland School of Medicine) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️
RT
Published: Apr 12, 2021
The classification system characterizes emerging variants based on their characteristics and the resulting actions and consequences for public health.
RR:C19 Editorials & Original Content
New and Notable Preprints
Preprints with RR:C19 peer reviews pending
Preprints that RR:C19 has identified as important for current discussion, that RR:C19 have solicited peer reviews for.
THIS PREPRINT PROVIDES A COHORT STUDY COMPARING CLINICAL PROFILES AND OUTCOMES OF PATIENTS UNVACCINATED WITH VIRAL VECTOR AND INACTIVATED VIRUS.
THIS PREPRINT IS ONE OF THE FIRST STUDIES DESCRIBING GAIN-OF-FUNCTION PROPERTIES FOR MUTATIONS DEFINING THE LAMDA VARIANT AND INVESTIGATE THE NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODIES ELICITED BY CORONAVAC ARE LESS EFFECTIVE AGAINST THIS VARIANT.
THIS PREPRINT, UNLIKE OTHER, USES REPLICANT COMPETENT VIRUS, TESTS ALL 3 POTENTIAL AVENUES OF NEUTRALIZATION EVASION, AND COMPARES TO B.1.1.7 as well as B.1.351, and D. 614G.
A PSEUDOVIRUS WITH MULTI-MUTANT SPIKE VARIANTS FROM INDIA, AND WITH THE INDIVIDUAL SINGLE POINT MUTANTS, TESTED FOR NEUTRALIZATION VS. CONVALESCENT PATIENT SERA, VACCINE-ELICITED, AND REGENERON MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES.
ThIS PREPRINT DISCUSSES A PSEUDOVIRUS MADE WITH MULTI-MUTANT SPIKE VARIANTS FROM INDIA, AND WITH THE INDIVIDUAL SINGLE POINT MUTANTS, TESTED FOR NEUTRALIZATION VS. CONVALESCENT PATIENT SERA, VACCINE-ELICITED, AND REGENERON MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES.
THIS PREPRINT DISCUSSES THE STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF VARIANTS OF CONCERN THAT DEMONSTRATE THE RBD MUTATIONS L452R, E484Q, AND Pb81R RESULT IN BETTER TRANSMISSIBILITY AND MAY AFFECT NEUTRALIZATION POTENTIAL.
THIS PREPRINT INVESTIGATES CONTRIBUTIONS OF L452R AND Y453F TO IMMUNE EVASION.
THIS PREPRINT DISCUSSES THE NEW VARIANT, B.1.617, THAT HAS BEEN SPREADING IN INDIA.
THIS PREPRINT OFFERS A METHODOLOGY FOR FUNCTIONAL TESTING AND IDENTIFICATION OF RECOMBINANT VARIANTS
THIS MANUSCRIPT FINDS THAT THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IN VIRAL ENTRY BETWEEN THE B.1.1.7 VARIANT COMPARED TO B.1 IS THE SPEED AT WHICH IT ENTERS CELLS
Qualitatively distinct modes of Sputnik V vaccine-neutralization escape by SARS-CoV-2 Spike variants
THIS MANUSCRIPT ARGUES THAT SERUM OF SPUTNIK-VACCINATED PEOPLE IS ABLE TO NEUTRALIZE PROMINENT SPIKE VARIANTS EXCEPT B.1.351
THIS MANUSCRIPT ARGUES THAT VARIANTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO EMERGE FROM UNVACCINATED POPULATIONS
IF CLAIMS ARE VERIFIED, THIS STUDY SHOWS THAT CURRENT VACCINES ARE NOT SUBSTANTIALLY AFFECTE BY THE MUTATIONS FOUND IN COMMON SARS-CoV-2 VARIANTS.
THIS DATA WILL BE HELPFUL IN DIRECTING WET BENCH GAIN-OF-FUNCTION STUDIES AND OFFERS A SHORT LIST OF VARIANTS TO TRACK IN COMING MONTHS
RR:C19 Reviewed Preprints
AS
OM
Published: Aug 06, 2021
Reviewers: Alex Sigal (Africa Health Research Institute) | 📘📘📘📘📘 • Orson Mestanza (National Institute of Health) | 📗📗📗📗◻️
YX
AM
Published: Aug 04, 2021
Reviewers: Yang Xiaoming (China National Biotech Group) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️ • Alberto Modenese (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) | 📗📗📗📗◻️
MX
HK
Published: Jul 05, 2021
Reviewers: Min Xie (Harvard) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️ • Hebah Al Khatib (UC Berkeley) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️
DB
GT
Published: Jun 17, 2021
Reviewers: Debmalya Barh (IIOAB) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️ • Gregory Towers (University College London) | 📗📗📗📗◻️
LM
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QT
Published: Mar 15, 2021
Reviewers: Lee Makowski (Northeastern University) | 📕◻️◻️◻️◻️ • Sankar Basu (University of Calcutta) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️ • Qian-Yuan Tang (University of Tokyo) | 📗📗📗📗◻️
AW
MA
Published: Mar 15, 2021
Reviewers: Arieh Warshel (USC) | 📒📒📒 ◻️◻️ • Muhamed Amin (University of Groningen) | 📘📘📘📘📘
AE
EC
Published: Feb 23, 2021
Reviewers: Abdelazeem Elhabyan (Tanta University) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️ • Eva Chan (New South Wales Health Pathology) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️
TK
FB
LR
Published: Feb 11, 2021
Reviewers: Takahiko Koyama (IBM Research) | 📗📗📗📗◻️ • François Balloux (University College London) | 📕◻️◻️◻️◻️ • Lee W Riley (UC Berkeley) | 📕◻️◻️◻️◻️
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GP
BL
HW
Published: Feb 07, 2021
Reviewers: Kabir Biswas (Hamad Bin Khalifa University) | 📘📘📘📘📘 • Kimberly Luke (Intuitive Biosciences) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️ • Geraldo Passos (University of Sao Paulo) | 📗📗📗📗◻️ • Binquan Luan (IBM T J Watson Research), Haoran Wang (Neoland Bioscience) | 📘📘📘📘📘
SS
Published: Jan 15, 2021
Reviewer: Shuo Song (Shenzhen Samii Medical Center) | 📒📒📒◻️◻️
