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What coronavirus variants mean for ending the pandemic

Last March, during the first wave of the pandemic, Adriana Heggie began sequencing the coronavirus genome. At the time, New York City hospitals were overwhelmed and America's testing capabilities were abysmal. The focus is on increasing testing to find out who has the virus and who doesn't. But Heggie, director of the Center for Genome Technology at NYU Langone Health, recognizes that diagnostic testing is not enough. Tracking mutations in a virus's genetic code is critical to understanding the virus. “No one is paying attention to the need for sequencing,” Heggie told me recently. "I thought, I can't just sit here and do nothing." Within weeks, her team sequenced hundreds of virus samples collected in New York City and published a paper with three Key findings: The virus had been circulating in the city for weeks before the lockdown; Most cases came from Europe, not China; Variant infecting New Yorkers carries D614G mutationthat scientists soon confirmed was more contagious than the original virus isolated in Wuhan.

What coronavirus variants mean for ending the pandemic

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