An SIU research project has identified a new variant of the novel coronavirus.
Keith Gagnon is an associate professor of biochemistry at SIU. His lab has been doing genomic sequencing of the novel coronavirus and has identified a new variant that is spreading in the US, known as 20C-US.
The variant is widespread in the US, Gagnon said, but had not been previously studied.
“It was completely unnoticed, uncharacterized, sort of right in our backyard, it just grew and basically took over the virus variant population and nobody even knew,” Gagnon said.
It’s too early to tell if the 20C-US variant is more transmissible than other COVID variants. Gagnon’s lab is continuing to study this new strain, as well as continuing their sequencing research to try to stay ahead of future COVID mutations.
