By collecting genetic information from these wastewater samples, researchers can study the virus strains circulating among hundreds of thousands of people at once, rather than gathering this information one PCR test swab at a time.
Anand and her colleagues flagged specific coronavirus mutations that they say deserve further attention as potential drivers of increased transmission or severity.
By sequencing these samples, the researchers could track the different variants New Yorkers have become all too acquainted with over the last year and a half. Alpha and iota dominated sewersheds in early 2021, followed by delta and omicron. Given the spike protein’s vital role, it’s arguably the most well-studied part of the coronavirus. Our immune systems also try to block the spike, creating selective pressure that forces the virus to adapt. More mutation happens in the spike protein than any other part of the virus, Johnson said.“We were never going to restrict ourselves to the spike protein,” Chandran said. “It’s looking at one single biomarker, like looking at cholesterol and blaming it for heart disease.
“With any mutation, it's important to first discount the possibility that its prevalence is not due to it being 'carried along' by a different mutation,” said Shishi Luo, associate director of bioinformatics and infectious diseases at the variant-tracking company Helix. In these situations, two mutations might show up in an alarming variant because they happened to evolve together, but only one may actually give the virus a meaningful advantage.
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