I wonder if anyone can answer a question that has been on my mind for quite a while. If I understand correctly, it is essentially the specific shape of the spike protein that allows it to bind to and infect human cells. But isn't it also the specific shape of the spike protein that allows neutralizing antibodies to bind to and inactivate the virus? At some point shouldn't viral mutation reach a point of diminishing returns, in that a mutation that decreases the effect of neutralizing antibodies also decreases the ability of the virus to infect cells?
Yep, important point – there is often a tradeoff between immune evasion and incurring a fitness cost, e.g. for influenza https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3251056/, where additional mutations can be required to compensate. Still lots of to learn about these functional constraints for viruses like influenza and SARS-CoV-2
It kinda did reach this point, multiple times in 2022 and 2023. So it has 'learned' to juggle between immune escape and infectivity. So far it has always found a way to stay.
I wonder if anyone can answer a question that has been on my mind for quite a while. If I understand correctly, it is essentially the specific shape of the spike protein that allows it to bind to and infect human cells. But isn't it also the specific shape of the spike protein that allows neutralizing antibodies to bind to and inactivate the virus? At some point shouldn't viral mutation reach a point of diminishing returns, in that a mutation that decreases the effect of neutralizing antibodies also decreases the ability of the virus to infect cells?
Yep, important point – there is often a tradeoff between immune evasion and incurring a fitness cost, e.g. for influenza https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3251056/, where additional mutations can be required to compensate. Still lots of to learn about these functional constraints for viruses like influenza and SARS-CoV-2
It kinda did reach this point, multiple times in 2022 and 2023. So it has 'learned' to juggle between immune escape and infectivity. So far it has always found a way to stay.