Mutations: These six strains of the coronavirus employ researchers - this is what their findings mean for vaccine development

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In the most extensive study on gene sequencing for the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus, a research team from Italy examined the six strains of the pathogen.

Using data from all over the world made available to them by other researchers, they were able to understand, among other things, where and when they spread which type of virus.

The research results are encouraging for the development of a potential vaccine.

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One became many: Originally, the novel coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 had a single strain, namely the so-called L-type, which originated in Wuhan, China. It mutated - so many times that there are now six proven strains of the virus. This is what researchers at the University of Bologna, Italy, found out after sequencing 48,635 Sars-CoV-2 genomes.

The genomes had been isolated by scientists around the world and made available to the Italian research team. This resulted in the most extensive study to date on gene sequencing for the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. It has now been published in the journal "Frontiers of Microbiology".

The six mutations that the researchers identified, but not, are an obstacle on the way to a vaccine. Because it looks as if Sars-CoV-2 is not extraordinarily variable: the Italian research team found around seven mutations in each sample. For comparison: with a common flu virus there are twice as many on average.