We conducted the same experiment as nature is conducting and satisfyingly found the same results. N* gives SARS2 a selective advantage (blue makes heaps of N*)

I realized the novel viral protein I study (SARS2 N*M210) was going extinct, which to a nerd is quite sad.

HOWEVER, N*M210 is making a big comeback...

R204 (yellow) mutation sequence enables N* synthesis. You can see N*-producing viruses are taking over (once again)

Evolution in real time.

Pre-print is up! SARS-2 produces a truncated N protein to antagonize multiple antiviral pathways. A very collaborative project in the @corcoranlab.bsky.social with @nogasharlin.bsky.social, Danyel Evseev, and Max Bui-Marinos, and of course the boss Jenn Corcoran

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...