Filenews 17 February 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
Thirty-seven different mutations of the coronavirus, including the UK mutation, were identified by Cypriot researchers after studying 768 samples involving people who tested positive for the virus between April 2020 and January 2021 in Cyprus. Indeed, as the same research seems to show, coronavirus is very diverse among infected people, and it is found that it entered the island, from many different "entrances" while the dispersion of its various strains is not completely limited to specific geographical areas.
The results of the survey, which was mainly aimed at the analysis of the virus in Cyprus, are expected to be announced on Friday during a press conference. The research, which is a purely academic initiative, involved the biotechnology & molecular biology laboratory of the University of Cyprus, under Professor Leontios Kostrikis, NIPD Genetics, Famagusta Hospital, as a reference hospital (Covid-19 clinic), in collaboration with the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and other scientists.
The findings of the research are considered of particular importance, since in the context of their study, the researchers carried out a genetic analysis of the coronavirus on the island, through samples taken from infected citizens and/or in need of hospitalization due to serious symptoms they presented.
The scientists, recording all the data and characteristics of the virus, came to concrete conclusions while under their microscope they set additional parameters, with particular emphasis on spike protein, which is considered crucial for the manufacture and efficacy of the various vaccines against the virus.
This is why, according to information provided by the "F", during the press conference, reference will be made to the data recorded so far in Cyprus, in relation to the available vaccines against coronavirus (which are given to Cypriot citizens), while all the findings will be analysed, as well as the way in which the 37 different mutations of the virus have affected its transmission in Cypriot society.
The mutations detected in Cyprus were compared with data recorded during the pandemic in other parts of the world and registered in international data "banks" in order to collect as much data as possible that confirms the findings of Cypriot researchers.
As sources from the University of Cyprus told "F", this is a comprehensive scientific research that sheds light on various, previously unknown data on the coronavirus and its course of spread on the island. Details of the scientists' findings will be announced shortly at a press conference.
