Slack / Private Message Drop — page 711

[2021-04-16 05:14:41] [Robert Garry] Apparently - I haven't seen it - Tucker is also disparaging me because I called out Fox News for their comic book-like RaTG13+pango scenario. [2021-04-16 05:46:42] [Robert Garry] [thread - ID: 2021-04-15 18:29:05] @Eddie Holmes The timing of all of the sequence information on sarbecoviruses is really the most definitive proof that SC2 is not a product of engineering, cell culture passage or GoF research. [2021-04-16 06:19:49] [Kristian Andersen] Crazy town. [2021-04-16 11:05:30] [Kristian Andersen] @Robert Garry - thoughts on some of these mutations in the "Indian" B.1.617 variant? The three spike mutations at 154, 452, and 484 certainly appear immune related. [shared file(s): Screen Shot 2021-04-16 at 11.04.11 AM.png] [2021-04-16 11:12:07] [Kristian Andersen] Interestingly, B.1.617 doesn't have the deletion in ORF1a, but it has a mutation very close by - I wonder if it might be having the same effect. https://outbreak.info/compare-lineages?pango=B.1.1.7&pango=B.1.351&pango=P.1&pango=[...]pan go=B.1.617&gene=ORF3a&gene=N&gene=ORF1a&gene=S&threshold=75 [shared file(s): Screen Shot 2021-04-16 at 11.10.13 AM.png] [2021-04-16 11:23:50] [Robert Garry] It's the corridor that was discussed above. PhiL and DouG (or similar mutations) open a door and the virus walks down to improve infection of humans. So the corridor involves: NTD front face: e.g. E154K (Eek, Jr?) or others, one or couple of RBD mutants (enhanced binding/immune escape) and a FCS enhancing mutation. Throw in the nsp6 loop deletion or another mutation near and you've got amore efficient virus. [2021-04-16 11:26:46] [Kristian Andersen] Eek, Jr - love it :wink:. the del3675/77 is the nsp6 deletion, correct? [2021-04-16 11:31:18] [Robert Garry] I think that's correct. Also, the nonbat "mutations in" Spike (A372 - knocks out a glycosylation site and H519) likely give SC2 a leg up - ie maybe makes it more pan-tropic. Of course need to mention the PRRA nonbat insertion too. [2021-04-16 11:39:30] [Robert Garry] I think this is the NSP6 mutation in B.1.617 [shared file(s): image.png] [2021-04-16 11:48:11] [Kristian Andersen] Which one in that figure? [2021-04-16 11:58:08]