Virology and Scientific Advances

 Pox viruses are DNA viruses. Monkeypox virus is among the Orthopoxviruses that have the ability to infect humans, including the Variola virus. The virus contains a lipoprotein membrane on the outside. There are proteins on this membrane that play a role in virulence and entry into the cell. The genome of the virus consists of three regions. The genome center contains genes involved in viral replication. The terminal region of the genome is responsible for the virus host and inflammation. At the far end of the genome are the genes that join the DNA ends of the virus. Monkeypox virus is an old virus. The natural host of the Monkeypox virus is squirrels. The virus is transmitted to humans through animal contact, and there is human-to-human transmission. So far, only sporadic cases have been seen because of this. However, in recent days, the cases that seem to be independent of each other and that have appeared one after another in different countries, "Has the virus's ability to...

Omicron is the variant with the best S1-S2 cleavage ability by the human protease furin. The spike protein of the Omicron variant is in the open conformation. The spike protein of the original virus had almost completely closed and loose conformation. In the original virus, the S1-S2 regions on the spike are mixed and loosely connected to each other. Due to mutations, S1 subunits and neighboring S2 regions are more tightly packed together in Omicron. This is why Omicron's spike protein is stronger, more stable and capable of better ACE II affinity than previous variants.   In the evolutionary history of SARS-CoV-2, we have seen more infectious variants arise. Mutations such as D614G, N501Y have made the spike protein more open. This may result in more RBD regions being exposed and this may mean that the virus has better receptor binding and tends to be more contagious. More than 1 million variants of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged. However, since most of these contain mutation...