Did Omicron jump from mice to men? Chinese scientists say it’s possible

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Uploaded: 2022-02-03T23:00:11.000Z
Duration: 3 min 39 s
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A new study of the Covid-19 variant suggests the virus jumped from humans to mice and back again after undergoing multiple mutations

Five mutations are identical to one found in a mouse’s lung, researchers found

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Omicron mutations resemble those found in mice. Photo: Shutterstock

Josephine Ma

Published: 7:00am, 4 Feb 2022Updated: 7:05am, 4 Feb 2022

A new study by Chinese researchers supports the theory that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus may have originated from mice.

The study said there was strong evidence that the virus had passed from humans to mice and then – after multiple mutations – had made the reverse journey.

03:39

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The study said the Omicron variant contains mutations that were rarely found in clinical samples from earlier patients and not found in any intermediate evolutionary branch of other variants.

However, five mutations of the Omicron variant are identical to one found in mouse lung samples, according to the paper published in the Journal of Biosafety and Biosecurity.

The origin of Omicron remains unknown as it contains over 50 mutations, many of which have not been found in other previous variants. Many scientists agree that it did not evolve from Delta or other recent variants.

There are broadly three theories about its origin. The mainstream theory is that the virus mutated in an immunocompromised person or carrier with weakened immune system.

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