Thread by @kwasiscientific

Aight, I don’t want to just complain about it, so here’s a simple explainer! Convergent evolution describes when unrelated populations of living things independently evolve similar traits in response to similar pressures in their respective environments. (1/9)

Some of my favorite examples of convergence are between marsupial and Eutherian (“placental”) mammals. The two animals here, a marsupial mole and an African golden mole, haven’t shared an ancestor in over 100 million years (!) but have evolved strikingly similar body plans. (2/9)

Fun fact, the African golden mole is actually completely unrelated to true moles in the family Talpidae, and is more closely related to elephants(!) so we have a three fold example of convergence on this subterranean body plan in mammals! (3/9)

So what does this have to do with COVID? Well viruses are subject to natural selection like any other living thing, and a virus’s ability to infect its hosts is crucial to its survival and success. (4/9)

As SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to spread, mutations will inevitably arise and proliferate in certain populations, some of which may increase virulence. This is another reason why slowing the spread is so crucial! (5/9)

SARS-CoV-2 in different parts of the world are subject to similar threats to their survival, namely the human efforts to control its spread. Therefore, different viral populations may independently evolve similar solutions to similar problems. (6/9)

The problem for us is that it’s much easier to deal with and isolate a single more virulent strain of COVID than dozens of more virulent strains popping up independently around the world, which seems to be what’s happening now 😬 (7/9)

And full disclosure, I’m not an epidemiologist or disease expert, so for more in depth and comprehensive COVID info, you should look to um, an actual disease expert. Here’s a few for starters: @caraebrook @wormmaps @evisher (8/9)

So convergent evolution isn’t solely some optimization engine for pathogens, it is a widespread and fundamental evolutionary phenomenon! COVID’s continued evolution should concern us, but we can report on the risks without twisting the science! (9/9)