CV and mad panic behaviour

[Mav]

Scientists warn of different Covid variants combining and sharing traits as infections rise, the Independent.

Apparently, the fear is there’ll be “recombination events” where 2 variants share dangerous traits.

In the early days of the pandemic, due to the limited genetic diversity of Sars-CoV-2 at the time, recombination was seen as largely inconsequential, with similar-looking variants exchanging much of the same genetic coding between each other.
“It has happened, but it hasn’t happened in such a way that it’s caused, as far as I’m aware, a major advantage to the virus,” said Prof Thomson.
But as the virus continues to spread – particularly in countries where it is given free rein to do so – it will build up genetic diversity that could make recombination more pronounced, and produce an offspring variant that carries concerning characteristics.