New crown lambda mutant strain may escape neutralizing antibodies

Japanese researchers recently published an article on the US Biology Open Access Preprint Platform (BioRxiv) that the lambda (λ) variant strain of the new coronavirus is not only highly infectious, but also likely to evade neutralizing antibodies

In August 2020, scientists discovered a mutant strain of the new coronavirus C.

Nevertheless, the virological and evolutionary characteristics of Lambda are still unknown

In the latest study, researchers from the University of Tokyo and Osaka University in Japan stated that the spike protein of the Lambda variant is highly contagious, and the "culprits" that cause this high contagion are the two occurrences of the virus, T61 and L452Q.

The researchers said that although this study has not been peer-reviewed so far, it can be determined that the lambda variant virus infects cells as active as the delta variant — the latter is currently considered the most infectious strain in the world.

The study also pointed out that RSYLTPGD246-253N, L452Q and F490S mutations allow the lambda variant strain to fight immunity

According to a recent report by the Latin American News Agency, RSYLTPGD246-253N is also called "Andean mutation.