Letters
Covid-19: new variants
Covid-19 and evolutionary pressure: can we predict which genetic dangers lurk beyond the horizon?
BMJ 2021; 372 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n445 (Published 26 February 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;372:n445
- Stephen T Green, honorary professor of international health and consultant physician1,
- Lorenzo Cladi, associate head of school (teaching and learning)2
- 1Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield S10 2JF, UK
- 2School of Law, Criminology, and Government, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
- steve.green5{at}nhs.uk
Emerging data show that the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 might be associated with an increased risk of death.1
As Charles Darwin taught us, the evolution of living creatures is inevitable. The evolutionary process can progress down many different pathways, and—regardless of whether philosophers and biologists consider viruses to be “living creatures”2—natural selection applies as much to SARS-CoV-2 as it does to any living entity, including …
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