As with all previous outbreaks of new virus infections, we are being warned of impending doom concerning the new coronavirus, 2019-nCoV that is now spreading globally. China’s National Health Commission Vice Minister Li Bin recently warned that ‘there is the possibility of viral mutation’. Perhaps Mr. Li is unaware that viral genomes sustain mutations during every replication cycle. More importantly, the implication of his message is that with mutation, bad things will happen. But outbreak-associated mutations do not have to increase viral replication or virulence.
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About viruses and viral disease