Definition of virus isolates

This isolate name consists of the genus, Betacoronavirus, followed by the city of origin, the isolate number, and the year. Isolates of other viruses are also precisely named. A virus variant is an isolate whose genome sequence differs from that of a reference virus. No inference is made about whether the change in genome sequence causes any change in the phenotype of the virus.

The meaning of variant has become clouded in the era of whole viral genome sequencing, because nearly every isolate may have a slightly different genome sequence.

Up until the end of , any SARS-CoV-2 sequences from any two individuals differed by about ten nucleotide changes out of 30, They are all variants, but the term is rarely used in this context. However since then viral genomes with many more changes have been identified. British scientists did a good deed by calling them VOCs, because now the press must call them variants. This practice emerges in every viral outbreak: there is a new, more fill in the blank with your favorite phenotype strain of Ebolavirus, of Zika virus, and now of SARS-CoV It began early in with the finding of variants with a single amino acid change in the spike protein, from D to G at position The press called this a new strain that was more transmissible.

But the use of strain was incorrect: it is a variant and remains so to this day. A virus strain is a variant that possesses unique and stable phenotypic characteristics. Such characteristics can only be ascertained by the results of experiments done in the laboratory, in cells in culture and in animals, coupled with observations made in infected humans.

The name strain is not easily earned: certainly it cannot simply be given by journalists! No such designation of strain has been given more than once to SARS-CoV there is one, and only one strain of this virus.

No incorrect usage of that term will change this fact. As you might imagine, it can take some time for an international group of experts to agree on anything. As proof of the concept, the PAN-PCR approach was applied to supernatants of coxsackievirus B3 and murine adenovirus type 1-infected cells. As a first application of this PAN-PCR approach, we characterized a virus isolate from mouth-washing material of a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome and high antibody titers to coxsackievirus B2.

Rapid response to:. Politics and public health in America—taking a stand for what is right. I was glad to see Janet Menage's rapid response asking "What does this mean? I know that Sabine Hazan verified that the sequence of the virus obtained from ATCC matched exactly what she found in people who have the virus.

Do these isolates have other stuff in them? How were they created? But my scientist friends seem happy with them. Am I wrong? Once again, Steve relies on others to claim isolation for him, this time through genomic sequencing. This is easier for liquid samples, from which cells can be more easily separated, such as bronchoalveolar lavage Table 4. Metagenomic approaches therefore generally benefit from input of samples with high virus loads such that a reasonable proportion of the genetic material in the sample is virus.

It is also often though not always, depending on the sequencing platform and multiplexing more costly than targeted capture-based or amplicon-based sequencing approaches, because more data have to be produced to generate one SARS-CoV-2 genome. Moreover, pretreatment steps that are particularly beneficial for metagenomics, such as centrifugation, are not typically performed for molecular diagnostic assays so new extractions that incorporate pretreatment steps may have to be performed for metagenomic sequencing.

I detailed this process here. The answer is a clear NO. The only way these so-called experts can attempt to make this isolation claim is by completely changing the meaning of the word.

Where and when did this definition change occur and what evidence was used in order to justify the complete reversal? This is the problem with relying on experts to do the thinking for you. When the claims of the experts are broken down, the same faulty logic and lack of critical thinking shines through. Their inability to look at the information objectively with unbiased eyes becomes your inability to do the same. Their false assumptions and outlandish claims become yours to defend. Far too often, we have given up our own ability to think for ourselves.

We have decided we are unworthy to discover truth and that it must be determined for us by those in false positions of authority. Do not fall into this trap. Do your own research and uncover the truth for yourself. Become your own guide and believe in yourself enough to be your own expert. Yes indeed, the emperor has no clothes. I want everyone in the world to make a cup of tea or coffee, get comfortable, and carefully read this post. Thanks Mike!! Like Liked by 1 person.

In this case, the emperor is definitely butt-ass naked and hysterically running through the streets shouting insanity at the top of his lungs. Like Like. I know everyone is on their own journey. And this laziness or lack of diligence is seen in one point of his dismissal of Kaufman.

Kirsch only mentions methodology and the basics and carries on relying on the argument from authority.