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Britain is at the ‘forefront’ of developing vaccines to fight new Covid variants by ‘second guessing’ future mutations, the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce boss says, amid plans to offer jabs to all adults by May – not just the over-50s. Clive Dix told BBC Radio 4’s Today it was ‘absolutely’ possible to produce a vaccine that … Read more
Britain offers to use its genomics expertise to police the world for dangerous Covid mutations by using UK labs to help other countries analyse new strains Britain is aiming to provide genomic experts to nations with limited resources Matt Hancock will make the pledge amid Government concerns over new strains He will offer the support … Read more
Zebras are known for their black and white stripes, but over several years scientists have noticed some of the animals bear spots, odd patterns and even gold fur. Such alterations, usually caused by genetic mutations, are rarely observed in mammals, which has sparked a new study into what is causing the zebras to change. A … Read more
Britain must keep Covid under wraps during the vaccine roll-out or it risks allowing the virus to mutate and render the jabs useless, an expert has warned. Dr Christina Pagel, a health and mathematics researcher based at University College London, said allowing the virus to continue to spreading could give the coronavirus more time to … Read more
The new strain of coronavirus spreading through Britain has a ‘striking’ amount of mutations, scientists have claimed. Members of the UK’s Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), who have been investigating the evolved strain, say they have uncovered 17 alterations, which they described as ‘a lot’. Many of the changes have occurred on the virus’s spike … Read more
Rapid coronavirus mutations in MINK could produce a more deadly version of the disease and even render vaccines useless if humans became infected, EU health agency warns Mink farms have the potential to support a large number of transmission events This could allow for problematic mutations to arise and potential infect humans In Denmark, 214 … Read more
Rapid coronavirus mutations in MINK could produce a more deadly version of the disease and even render vaccines useless if humans became infected, EU health agency warns Mink farms have the potential to support a large number of transmission events This could allow for problematic mutations to arise and potential infect humans In Denmark, 214 … Read more
Mutations to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes Covid-19 will not affect the effectiveness of vaccines, a study shows. The virus has mutated at a critical location since it first emerged in Wuhan late last year, and there were concerns future changes could render vaccines useless. In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic the dominant … Read more
Will masks soon be compulsory in the workplace? France has said it will become compulsory for its workers to wear masks in all indoor, open work areas – including open-plan offices, meeting rooms, workshops, corridors and kitchens – from September. Yet Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted UK offices would not be subjected to the same … Read more
‘Hidden mutations’ in the genetic makeup of tomato plants can be used to create bigger, tastier ‘super varieties’, study claims More than 200,000 genetic mutations were identified in 100 tomato varieties When one plant had its DNA mutated it produced 30 per cent larger tomatoes Scientists hope the findings could lead to larger yields for … Read more