Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in Relation to the Host Immune System

Abstract

How can we explain the temporal evolution of the pandemic?

The mutations in the viral RNA sequence observed in recent studies concern regions involved in the interaction of the virus with cells of the host immune system. It therefore seems to be confirmed that the emerging virus has adapted to the host immune system by modifying its transmissibility and virulence. The virus adapts by natural selection to the immune system of its host (the human population); it is the sum of these individual adaptations that produces the overall evolution of the virus during the epidemic. This hypothesis is consistent with the Theory of Evolution, which often helps to solve puzzles in biology.

Note: Funding: None to declare

Declaration of Interest: None to declare

Keywords: COVID-19, Virology, evolution, immunology