Both Omicron and Monkeypox show evidence of mutation by the human immune system – June 2022


The human immune system can mutate viruses in a particular way- leaving a signature in the RNA or DNA

Suspect that most of the time the human-caused mutation results in the killing of the virus
Unfortunately, very rarely, it will improve the virus: making it more infectious
In the case of Monkeypox, it seems that the human-induced mutation callows it to spread between humans


Scientists Zero In on Origins of the Monkeypox Outbreak - New York Times - June 23, 2022

  • (for Monkeypox) "Of the 47 mutations identified in one analysis, 42 carry the distinct signature of an enzyme called Apobec3. This enzyme, first discovered by researchers studying H.I.V., is a so-called host defense factor — an immune-system weapon that animals and people use to disarm viruses like monkeypox."
  • "Some experts have cautioned for years that the eradication of smallpox in 1980 left the world vulnerable to the broader family of poxviruses and raised the odds of monkeypox evolving into a successful human pathogen."

Footprint of the host restriction factors APOBEC3 on the genome of human viruses - Aug 2020


Study explores role of APOBEC-mediated RNA editing in SARS-CoV-2 fitness - April 2022


Comparative Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern, Including Omicron, Highlights Their Common and Distinctive Amino Acid Substitution Patterns, Especially at the Spike ORF - March 2022


3,200 Monkeypox cases around the world (June 23, 2022)


Perhaps the immune system instructs the ribosome makes a specific pattern of mistakes

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