A lot, as expected, and at the same time little to date if we look at the effects that the observed mutations have had so far on the clinical evolution of the disease
(image: Fusion Medical Animation / Unsplash) Periodically we return to discuss how much the coronavirus
has changed, in mutated jargon. It is done - more or less by the way - both in the clinical setting, i.e. referring to the characteristics of the population affected by infections, and in the biological field, looking more closely at those of the virus, trying
to understand how these translate at the level of contagiousness and severity of infections. With the temptation, not uncommon, to translate the discoveries on the evolution of the virus into the narrative of a more or less new virus, more or less alive, more or less strong, more or less good. And as always, things are much more complicated. In recent days, for example, a study has made headlines
according to which the virus "loses pieces": a mutation in one of its proteins (by deletion, which is why there has been talk of lost pieces) that could make the virus less pathogenic.
