Omicron Variant Shares Genetic Code With Common Cold, Researchers Say

According to a team of researchers based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to share genetic code with the virus responsible for causing the common cold.

This, the researchers say, could explain why Omicron variant seems to spread easily with extremely mild symptoms.

The researchers are from Nference, a data analytics firm that originally found the genetic code and have now written a pre-print study that is currently awaiting peer review.

According to the New York Post, “The mutation could mean the virus transmits more easily, while only causing mild or asymptomatic disease,” per the study. Omicron variant may have picked up a piece of common-cold virus: experts https://t.co/Wbk8KObTlu pic.twitter.com/4e6c4uBCP2 — New York Post (@nypost) December 5, 2021 “By virtue of Omicron adopting this insertion,” said researcher Venky Soundararajan, who co-authored the study, “It is essentially taking a leaf out of the seasonal coronaviruses’ page, which [explains] … how it lives and transmits more efficiently with human beings,” he said, according to the Washington Post.

This seems to corroborate most published experiences with the Omicron variant.

Since the variant was discovered in Africa, virtually all media reports describing those who have contracted it have noted mild symptoms.The Omicron […]

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