Researchers Warn That SARS-CoV-2 Mutates Faster Than Any Known Human Coronavirus
Kittisak Meepoon Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Dec 04, 2025 34 minutes ago
Medical News: Terrifying Truth Revealed SARS-CoV-2 Recombines Far More Than Any Other Human Coronavirus
In a discovery that could change everything we thought we knew about the COVID-19 virus, scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Emory University, the Emory Vaccine Center, and Scripps Research have now confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 has greater RNA recombination frequency than all other known human coronaviruses. This shocking finding means the virus has a supercharged ability to mutate, evolve, and outsmart our immune systems—faster and more efficiently than its cousins like MERS, HCoV-229E, and HCoV-OC43.
SARS-CoV-2 mutates nearly twice as fast as other human coronaviruses through hyperactive RNA recombination
According to this
Medical News report, this accelerated mutation mechanism helps explain why SARS-CoV-2 continues to produce new variants and evade vaccines, even after nearly six years of global scientific warfare against it.
Why This Virus Keeps Outrunning Science
At the heart of this frightening ability is a process called RNA recombination, where the virus reshuffles its genetic material during replication. The study showed that SARS-CoV-2 does this at a rate nearly double that of other human coronaviruses. This rapid genetic remixing gives it a dangerous edge—it can constantly spawn new versions of itself that might be more infectious, deadlier, or resistant to drugs and immune responses.
A Deeper Look at the Viral Weapon Called NSP15
The researchers focused on a viral enzyme called NSP15, which helps SARS-CoV-2 cut its RNA in a precise way, mainly at uridine-rich regions. When they genetically disabled this enzyme in a lab-grown variant, the virus still managed to replicate—but it started generating wild, chaotic mutations at an even higher rate. These mutations led to defective viral genomes that trick the body’s defenses and provoke extreme immune reactions.
Fewer Viruses More Damage
What’s terrifying is that even with lower amounts of virus present in the body, infected animals experienced similar levels of weight loss, inflammation, and lung destruction as those infected with the normal virus. Why? Because the excessive RNA recombination and immune confusion caused by the NSP15-deficient virus led to brutal immune system overreactions.
Is Fighting This Protein a Double-Edged Sword?
While NSP15 might seem like a promising drug target, the study warns that blocking it could backfire. Disabling NSP15 may reduce viral replication, but it also dramatically increases genomic instability—helping the virus mutate faster and causing more immune-driven damage in the host. In short, it could turn the virus into an unpredictable monster.
Conclusion
This study reveals a disturbing truth—SARS-CoV-2 has greater RNA recombination frequency than any other human coronavirus ever studied, giving it a deadly evol
utionary advantage. With the NSP15 protein acting as both a shield and a sword for the virus, targeting it may come with serious risks. As the virus continues to reinvent itself through hyperactive RNA recombination, the global fight against COVID-19 could face even steeper hurdles. Caution is now more critical than ever in how we develop future antivirals.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Nature Communications.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67001-2
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