Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2

As part of the study, researchers of the Laboratory for Research on Molecular Mechanisms of Longevity was able to demonstrate that microRNAs in human lung tissue exert evolutionary pressure on the SARS-CoV-2 genome.

RNA interference in vertebrates acts as an antiviral mechanism only in undifferentiated embryonic stem cells and is mediated through microRNAs. Recent studies indicate that in somatic cells, host microRNAs also bind to the genomes of RNA viruses, regulating their translation and replication. It has been shown that (+)RNA viruses are able to evolve under the influence of host cell miRNAs. For more than two years of the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has mutated significantly, and not all of its mutations have led to a change in the sequence of viral proteins. It is possible that these mutations could be fixed in the virus genome under the influence of alveocyte miRNAs.