Thread by @EricTopol

The "D" in Delta stands for a detour in genomic mutations.
Instead of the prior major variants which had N501Y, and E484K for Beta and Gamma, this one took a different path in its spike RBD and other key spots (sequences at @scrippsresearch's outbreak.info) /1

You can see (Delta, in orange) the marked differences from the other variants in multiple locations: receptor binding domain (RBD), N-terminal domain (NTD) and in S2 of the spike protein /2
graphic from @atelentia @Nature nature.com/articles/s4158…

We don't know much about the functional significance of the mutations in Lambda (C.37), a variant of interest that emerged in South America, that is also on a new path
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
nationalgeographic.com/science/articl… by @Ecquis @NatGeo /3

Good discussion @TheEconomist on the evolution of the variants and their different mutations, N501Y, E484K, P681R, in the trimeric spike protein, and binding to our cells /4
economist.com/the-economist-…

One thing for sure: we need to achieve global containment of #SARSCoV2 as soon as possible to avoid further substantive evolution (a term usually connotating slowness but it's been happening fast). Our upbeat perspective @NatureMedicine w/ @RobertoBurioni nature.com/articles/s4159…