As testing ramps up amid the current COVID-19 surge, researchers at Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina are detecting delta variant mutations, finding one known as AY.4 particularly prevalent.
Four things to know:
1. "It's clearly blowing up much faster than the original delta strain," Bailey Glen, PhD, bioinformatics scientist at MUSC's College of Medicine, said in an Aug. 26 news release.
2. AY.4 is one of more than 20 delta sub-lineages, according to Julie Hirschhorn, PhD, director of molecular pathology and assistant professor at MUSC.
3. "Delta is proving to be a crazy mutator," Dr. Hirschhorn said. "It's mutating in a step-wise manner, which may provide one of these variants a selective advantage."
4. The CDC is currently only tracking two delta mutations — AY.2 and AY.1 — along with the original delta variant, B.1.617.2.