Omicron Covid-19 variant likely picked up a piece of common cold virus, US study finds

The Omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus – possibly one that causes the common cold – present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called Sars-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers…

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