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<p>Coronavirus mutations reported within the past week by scientists
in the UK have raised concern about an increased transmission rate
of COVID-19. The report even temporarily closed the borders
between the UK, France, and other EU countries, causing huge
backups of trucking and supply concerns.</p>
<p>See the locations of the 4 most concerning mutations on a
rotating 3D model of spike protein with interpretations of their
likely consequences at this article posted December 22, 2020: </p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://proteopedia.org/w/SARS-CoV-2_spike_protein_mutations"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://proteopedia.org/w/SARS-CoV-2_spike_protein_mutations</a></p>
<p>The article is written to be suitable for high-school students
and higher. There are links to additional background material as
well as references to reliable scientific publications and news
sources.</p>
<p>The article offers a downloadable movie of the spike protein,
slide presentation-ready, showing the conformational change when
it is primed, with the locations of mutations indicated.</p>
<p>-Eric Martz</p>
<p> </p>
<div style="-en-clipboard:true;">Professor Emeritus, Dept
Microbiology (he/him/his) </div>
<div>University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA US </div>
<div><a href="http://martz.molviz.org/" moz-do-not-send="true">Martz.MolviZ.Org</a></div>
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