China develops new mutant Covid strain with 100% death rate in humanised mice

Beijing, Jan 17: Scientists in China are experimenting with a mutant Covid-19 strain that can cause 100 percent death rate in “humanized” mice, according to a study not published yet.

The virus, dubbed GX_P2V caused 100 per cent mortality in human ACE2-transgenic mice, potentially due to late-stage brain infection, revealed the study published on preprint site bioRxiv, and not reviewed yet.

The study by researchers including from University of Chemical Technology and Nanjing University in China, showed that GX_P2V -- attacked the brains of mice that were engineered to reflect similar genetic makeup to people.

“This underscores a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans and provides a unique model for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses,” the researchers wrote in the paper.

The deadly GX_P2V is a mutated version of GX/2017 -- a coronavirus cousin that was reportedly discovered in Malaysian pangolins in 2017 -- three years before the pandemic.