Variants of concern are in the community

VIRUSES infect every form of life, leading to diseases. They differ from other infectious organisms in structure and biology, particularly in reproduction. Despite having their own conventional genetic information – carried in their DNA or RNA – they are unable to produce new virus materials because they lack the synthetic machinery required for this process.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes Covid-19, is an RNA virus that belongs to a large family of viruses known as coronavirus. It lacks the synthetic machinery required for reproduction, so how can it replicate?