'Omicron' Covid Variant Observed To Have Many More Mutations Than Delta In First Image

The first image of the 'Omicron' variant, detected initially in South Africa, shows it has more mutations than the Delta variant, according to researchers from the Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome.

The first image of the 'Omicron' variant, detected initially in South Africa, shows it has more mutations than the Delta variant| File photo

New Delhi: The first image of the new Covid variant 'Omicron' shows it has more mutations than the Delta variant, AFP reported. A team of researchers from the Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome produced and published the first image of this new variant detected for the first time in South Africa, the report said. 

Quoting the researchers, the report said the three-dimensional "image" looks like a map, and on it, "we can clearly see that the Omicron variant presents many more mutations than the Delta variant, concentrated above all in one area of the protein that interacts with the human cells."

"This does not automatically mean that these variations are more dangerous, just that the virus has further adapted to the human species by generating another variant," the report quoted the researchers as saying.

They added that other studies will tell them if this adaptation is neutral, less dangerous, or more dangerous, according to the report.

Claudia Alteri, professor of clinical microbiology at Milan State University and a researcher at Bambino Gesu, told AFP that the research team focused on the search for mutations in "the three-dimensional structure of the spike protein", the report said.

Quoting Alteri, the report said the image was produced "from the study of the sequences of this new variant made available to the scientific community" coming mainly "from Botswana, South Africa, and Hong Kong". 

She added that the image, which represents a map of all the variations, describes the mutations of Omicron but does not define its role, the report stated.

"It will now be important to define through laboratory experiments whether the combination of these mutations can have an impact on transmission or on the effectiveness of vaccines, for example," the report quoted her as saying.