There have been claims that #COVID19 has acquired mutations leading to more transmissible strains. We formally tested whether this was the case using 15,000 #SARSCoV2 genomes from all over the world:
... and the answer is no, not at all!
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https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad ">https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad&...

We analysed all mutations in the #SARSCoV2 genome that are plausible candidates for adaptation to its novel human host with a novel approach comparing the relative number of descendants of all sister lineages with and without a specific mutation.
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https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad ">https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad&...

No single mutation having emerged recurrently to this day is significantly associated with increased transmission of #SARSCoV2. Instead, all those mutations are neutral or deleterious to the virus& #39; transmission, some significantly so.
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https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad ">https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad&...

Interestingly, the majority of recurrent mutations having emerged in #SARSCoV2 to date are not due to mistakes made by the virus during replication. Instead they were caused by the RNA editing machinery, which is part of our immune system.
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https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad ">https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad&...

It was a great honour and privilege to do this work in collaboration with a fantastic team of wonderfully talented scientists. Thank you @LucyvanDorp, Damien Richard, @liampshaw, @CedricCSTan1, @misac42.
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https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad ">https://tinyurl.com/ycrgb7ad&...