Variants
of the novel coronavirus which carry two specific mutations in their spike
protein may elude the antibodies, making vaccine against COVID-19 less effective,
said virologist, Shahid Jameel adding that improving surveillance on for “homegrown” lineages of the coronavirus is the need of the hour.

Jameel,
who serves as the Director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka
University in Haryana further stated that these mutations would bring about a
dramatic change in protein structure that creates a bind with antibodies. This
process will abate vaccine’s efficiency.

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The
spike protein of the novel coronavirus makes it possible for it to bind to the
ACE2 receptor on host cells. According to several studies, this process is believed
to be imperial for this virus to enter a body and cause infection.

According
to the noted virologist, currently, the data is consistent with poor activity
of neutralising antibodies against the South African lineage of the
coronavirus, which carries both these mutations on the spike protein.

At
GYANTEEKA, an online presentation-discussion series hosted by the Indian
National Young Academy of Science (INYAS), New Delhi to spread awareness and
bust myths on vaccines, Jameel said these mutations are in the 501st and 484th
amino acid building blocks that make up the virus spike protein.

In
his presentation on Saturday, the noted virologist said both these mutations
happen at the interface where antibodies bind to the virus spike protein.

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“At
the interface, there are a couple of key amino acid residues. One is the N501Y
mutation. Another emerging mutation is the E484K mutation, and if you notice,
the 484 changes negatively charged amino acid into positively charged amino
acid,” he explained in his presentation, citing studies.

“If
you have both 501 and 484 mutations happening at the same time in the same
virus, that virus is likely to either evade antibody response, or it is going
to make the antibodies less effective. That’s the take-home,” he added.

On
Tuesday, the Health ministry said four people in the country tested positive
for infection with the South African variant, and one for the Brazil variant —
a first for India.

While
in India, there have not been reports of community transmission of these virus,
Jameel believes the need of the hour is also to look out for homegrown
variants. “Remember India already has about 11 million infections now, so
there could easily be homegrown variants and I think for that it is very
important to have genomic surveillance, which is done at scale,” the
virologist said.

“And
for that government of India has set up an inter-ministerial Group which is
called INSA COG which brings together 10 different National Laboratories to
start sequencing at a density of about 5 per cent,” he added.

Currently,
the virologist said India is sequencing at a density of about 0.05 per cent.

“So
essentially, the plan is to upscale sequencing about a hundredfold in the
country,” Jameel added.

A
recent study by the scientists of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad analysed over 5,000 coronavirus variants,
describing how the virus has evolved over the course of the pandemic.

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It
found that a variant carrying the N440K mutation is spreading a lot more in the
southern states of India.

“We
now have emerging evidence that the N440K variant is spreading a lot more in
southern states. Closer surveillance is needed to understand its spread
properly,” CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra said in a statement.

While
variants with immune-escape such as the South African variant have been
identified with only a low prevalence in India, Mishra believes this could be
because not enough sequencing has been done.

“More
coronavirus genomes need to be sequenced across the country to accurately
identify the emergence of these and other new variants,” he added.