The fast-moving variant poses new puzzles in viral transmission, severity and evolution.
That’s good news, because although T cells are slower than antibodies to respond to a recurring threat, they’re effective once they get going. This helps to stop breakthrough infections from becoming severe.
The latter is what’s happened with each variant of concern so far. “It suggests that there’s a huge amount of plasticity in the virus,” says Lucy Thorne, a virologist at University College London. “It’s got different evolutionary options.” As the study authors note, changes in cell-culture dishes don’t necessarily mean that the virus would be any better at infecting animals or people; it’s possible the mutations might make it inept in other ways. Thus, this type of workResearchers can also put pressure on the virus in the lab, allowing it to evolve in the presence of antibodies or antiviral drugs.