SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant: the black swan of microbiology

Zhangkai J Cheng; Mingshan Xue; Youpeng Chen; Yong Zhang; Baoqing Sun

doi:10.1007/s00203-022-03196-y

SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant: the black swan of microbiology

Arch Microbiol. 2022 Sep 14;204(10):622. doi: 10.1007/s00203-022-03196-y.

Authors

Zhangkai J Cheng^#¹, Mingshan Xue^#¹, Youpeng Chen^#^{1

2}, Yong Zhang³, Baoqing Sun⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² KingMed Diagnostics and KingMed School of Laboratory Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. yongzhangcn@qq.com.
⁴ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. sunbaoqing@vip.163.com.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The sudden emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is causing major global concern due to its high number of mutations compared to previous variants, which is a relatively rare but significant event that can change the course of viral evolution, the occurrence of which might have huge consequences for the natural evolution of species in general, prompting us to rethink our knowledge on evolution.

Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron; The black swan; Variant.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Mutation
SARS-CoV-2* / genetics

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants