Covid-19 virus: How the Alpha variant disabled our bodies' ability to fight back
The Alpha variant saw the virus that causes Covid-19 evolve to be more transmissible. Whilst a lot of attention has been on the spike binding areas of the virus and the effectiveness of antibodies from either vaccine or prior infection, new research demonstrates how the virus evolved an ability to inhibit our bodies innate virus response once it has infected a cell.
Dr Clare Jolly, a Reader in Virus Cell Biology at UCL in the UK, reports on how the Alpha variant affected the spread of the virus.
Photo: A coule walking in a city park, one of them blowing her nose Credit: Getty Images
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