According to an Italian geneticist, the British Covid mutation was isolated by the Italian scientists in September. How is that possible if the UK scientists claim to have discovered it in December? The Covid fiction goes on. Don't miss the next episode.

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The Bolognese geneticist who studies the Coronavirus: "effective vaccine even if it mutates".

Federico Giorgi on the English variant: "we had already isolated it between the end of September and the beginning of October".

"We had already isolated it between the end of September and the beginning of October, "explains Federico Giorgi, the geneticist researcher at the University of Bologna, one of the European" sentinels " that oversee the covid mutation, speaking of the English variant of the virus.

Why didn't the alarm go off? Didn't they take you seriously?

"We researchers at the Alma Mater, in collaboration with the University of Catanzaro, have written everything in an article that has been published. We had noticed the mutation in 15 British patients, but we did not have an experimental validation."

What did you notice?

"That there was a mutation in the interface between the protein" spike "and the other protein," ace2", that is, in the mechanism by which the virus enters human cells. The first is the pickguard with which the same virus binds to the cell by taking root on "ace2" present on the bronchial surface. If this link was not triggered, the virus, floating in the mucus, would be expelled with a cough. On the contrary, thanks to the "spike" penetrates into the cells".

And did you researchers point out all this?

"Exactly. It was a mutation noted in England, the United States and Australia. It is undoubtedly the most interesting and dangerous of the thousands that we notice in the approximately 650 slides that come to us every day from all over the world".

What everyone would like to know is whether this mutation compromises the effectiveness of the vaccine.

"Vaccines are effective because they still have the goal of defusing the "spike"protein. The mutation, if we want to represent it with a metaphor, has simply given a few file shots to the key that allows the virus to enter the cells and in this way makes access easier, but does not change the shape of the "spike".

So the vaccine will block the disease. For a year, maybe two, we can rest easy."

Does that mean we have to think about another vaccine?

"It is likely. The virus will remain endemic because to eradicate it completely it would be necessary to vaccinate 100% of the population, but I believe that it will stop around 60%, a percentage that allows to make the disease sporadic. But then we will have to sequence the virus, monitor it and adapt the vaccines because mutating is in the nature of the virus itself."

Aren't we doing this? "Only the British and partly the Americans do it. The first came to 125 thousand sequences, the Americans to 100 thousand, we are still at 920 and the rest of Europe even less. It is thanks to this work that in Britain they have detected the mutation".

Does it mean that if we run so many sequences of the virus, perhaps we will discover that the new strain has already been with us for a long time? "It is likely. Vaccines are robust and resistant to mutation, but the tests we should continually update them otherwise we risk having so many false negatives. The sequence is like the family tree of the virus and allows us to observe changes in the genetic kit by taking countermeasures. But also to understand where that type of variant comes from and therefore isolate the country where it has developed".

But do we run the risk of noticing the enemy when we already have him in the House? "I give an example. When the first outbreaks developed in Italy, it was thought that everything came from a man who had come to Lombardy from Bavaria. If instead of a single evidence we had ten, we would have realized that it was useless to block flights from China. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to close contacts with Bavaria".

So sequencing the virus is the most urgent goal?

"We must train to fight disasters like this. Which is tantamount to treating potentially dangerous mutations, those that grow and assert themselves, as if they were suspicious individuals. What we are talking about is a mutation that has gone from 0.1% of the cases observed in September to the average 10% today".

https://bologna.repubblica.it/cronaca/2020/12/22/news/il_genetista_bolognese_che_studia_il_coronavirus_vaccini_efficaci_anche_se_muta_-279391853/

**The Bolognese geneticist who studies the Coronavirus: "effective vaccine even if it mutates".** *Federico Giorgi on the English variant: "we had already isolated it between the end of September and the beginning of October".* "We had already isolated it between the end of September and the beginning of October, "explains Federico Giorgi, the geneticist researcher at the University of Bologna, one of the European" sentinels " that oversee the covid mutation, speaking of the English variant of the virus. Why didn't the alarm go off? Didn't they take you seriously? "We researchers at the Alma Mater, in collaboration with the University of Catanzaro, have written everything in an article that has been published. We had noticed the mutation in 15 British patients, but we did not have an experimental validation." What did you notice? "That there was a mutation in the interface between the protein" spike "and the other protein," ace2", that is, in the mechanism by which the virus enters human cells. The first is the pickguard with which the same virus binds to the cell by taking root on "ace2" present on the bronchial surface. If this link was not triggered, the virus, floating in the mucus, would be expelled with a cough. On the contrary, thanks to the "spike" penetrates into the cells". And did you researchers point out all this? "Exactly. It was a mutation noted in England, the United States and Australia. It is undoubtedly the most interesting and dangerous of the thousands that we notice in the approximately 650 slides that come to us every day from all over the world". What everyone would like to know is whether this mutation compromises the effectiveness of the vaccine. "Vaccines are effective because they still have the goal of defusing the "spike"protein. The mutation, if we want to represent it with a metaphor, has simply given a few file shots to the key that allows the virus to enter the cells and in this way makes access easier, but does not change the shape of the "spike". So the vaccine will block the disease. For a year, maybe two, we can rest easy." Does that mean we have to think about another vaccine? "It is likely. The virus will remain endemic because to eradicate it completely it would be necessary to vaccinate 100% of the population, but I believe that it will stop around 60%, a percentage that allows to make the disease sporadic. But then we will have to sequence the virus, monitor it and adapt the vaccines because mutating is in the nature of the virus itself." Aren't we doing this? "Only the British and partly the Americans do it. The first came to 125 thousand sequences, the Americans to 100 thousand, we are still at 920 and the rest of Europe even less. It is thanks to this work that in Britain they have detected the mutation". Does it mean that if we run so many sequences of the virus, perhaps we will discover that the new strain has already been with us for a long time? "It is likely. Vaccines are robust and resistant to mutation, but the tests we should continually update them otherwise we risk having so many false negatives. The sequence is like the family tree of the virus and allows us to observe changes in the genetic kit by taking countermeasures. But also to understand where that type of variant comes from and therefore isolate the country where it has developed". But do we run the risk of noticing the enemy when we already have him in the House? "I give an example. When the first outbreaks developed in Italy, it was thought that everything came from a man who had come to Lombardy from Bavaria. If instead of a single evidence we had ten, we would have realized that it was useless to block flights from China. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to close contacts with Bavaria". So sequencing the virus is the most urgent goal? "We must train to fight disasters like this. Which is tantamount to treating potentially dangerous mutations, those that grow and assert themselves, as if they were suspicious individuals. What we are talking about is a mutation that has gone from 0.1% of the cases observed in September to the average 10% today". https://bologna.repubblica.it/cronaca/2020/12/22/news/il_genetista_bolognese_che_studia_il_coronavirus_vaccini_efficaci_anche_se_muta_-279391853/

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