Unveiling the omicron B.1.1. 529: The variant of concern that is rattling the globe

Authors

  • Ruby Dhar Scientist, Room No-3020 Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3600-6554
  • Joyeeta Talukdar Research Associate-I, Lab No-3018 Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4922-2283
  • Arnab Nayek Research Associate-I, Lab No-3018 Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
  • Swati Ajmeriya Senior Research Fellow, Indian Council of Medical Research, India
  • Arun Kumar Professor and Head, Department of Biochemistry, Jagannath Gupta Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Budge Budge, Kolkata, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8800-0296
  • Subhradip Karmakar Additional Professor, Room No-3020, Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4757-8729

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v13i1.41117

Keywords:

COVID-19, SARS-CoV2, Omicron, Pandemic, Variant of concern

Abstract

Most viruses–including SARS-CoV-2, seem to have evolved over time. The lack of stringent proofreading mechanisms makes viral DNA/RNA replication error-prone. When a virus replicates, it sometimes changes a little bit, which is called mutations. Any virus with one or more new mutations can be referred to as a “variant” of the original virus. The last 2 years have witnessed the emergence of a large number of variants. Since the pandemic’s beginning, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has mutated extensively, resulting in the emergence of different variants of the virus. One of these is the delta variant (arising from Pango lineage B.1.617.2) that took the word in a storm this year (February-July). The current a variant of concern is the B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant reported first from South Africa on November 24, 2021. In recent weeks, infections have been widely reported, along with the increased detection of the B.1.1.529 variant. We reviewed the emergence of the new variant (B1.1.529) and its possible outcomes.

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Published

2022-01-01

How to Cite

Dhar, R., Talukdar, J. ., Nayek, A. ., Ajmeriya , S. ., Kumar, A. ., & Karmakar, S. . (2022). Unveiling the omicron B.1.1. 529: The variant of concern that is rattling the globe. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 13(1), 166–168. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v13i1.41117

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Mini-Review Articles

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Copyright (c) 2021 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences

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