In many ways, 2020 is looking like 1918, the year the great influenza pandemic raged. Like then, science is unable to crush an insidious yet avoidable infectious disease before hundreds of thousands die from it. LOS ANGELES - Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory say they have identified 14 new mutations of the novel coronavirus that first originated in Wuhan, China in hopes of creating an early warning system to reveal new strains that may render future vaccines ineffective.
One mutation that is of urgent concern to researchers is called “mutation spike D614G” which scientists say first appeared in February in Europe and became dominant strain across the world by mid-March.