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A recent posting in Nature Briefings gives us some idea just how tough the Sars-CoV-2 virus is going to be. We post the link below, and urge you to take a little time to read it, whether as a citizen, taxpayer, family member, or as befits a reader of LSS, a good old fashioned rationalist who is curious about the world around them. We will not spoil it for you, but note these telling points as you read
This virus has an array of adaptations which make it more lethal than previous coronaviruses which we have encountered
It attacks human cells at multiple points, unlike previous corona viruses
It has a dangerous mutation mechanism called recombination
There is also a very clear discussion of the origins and evolution of this virus.
Here is a precis, from Nature Briefings, which we hope can give you a link by other means
The new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has an array of adaptations that make it much more lethal than the coronaviruses humanity has met so far. Unlike close relatives, SARS-CoV-2 can readily attack human cells at multiple points, with the lungs and the throat being the main targets. Once inside the body, the virus makes use of a diverse arsenal of dangerous molecules. And genetic evidence suggests that it has been hiding in nature possibly for decades. But there are many crucial unknowns about this virus, including how exactly it kills, whether it will evolve into something more — or less — lethal and what it can reveal about the next outbreak from the coronavirus family.
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