Balance and Genetic Mechanisms in the COVID-19 Process of Mutation

Introduction: SRAS-Cov-2, First found on December 2019 in Wuhan China has turned into a worldwide health care problem. The changes on genetic drift, genetic recombination, natural selection, and other mutations originated variants of medical concern because of the changes on its transmissibility, pathogenesis, or its capacity to avoid the immune system. This is mainly because of the mutations on the structural proteins as the spike protein.

Objective: Describe the COVID-19 mechanisms of mutation.

Methodology: A systematic review was carried out, the search for information was carried out in journals indexed in (Crossref, Google Scholar, SciELO, and in Journals indexed in SCIE, SSCI, ESCI) using keywords; COVID-19 genome, COVID-19 mutations, COVID-19 variants.

Results: The main mutations among COVID-19 variants are due to the Spike protein in its N501Y and D614G forms and modifying the N-terminal domain; likewise, there are mutations in the other structural proteins M, E and N and in the ORF1a and b regions. It has been shown to be multifactorial as it is influenced to mutate by environmental factors.

Conclusions: A detailed comparison was made of the main pathogenic and genetic characteristics of the variants of medical importance in the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been shown to be multifactorial as it is influenced to mutate by environmental factors. For this reason, it is important the correct execution of public health and the application of programs focused on the prevention of contagion and improvement of habits and care to avoid the evolution of the pathogenesis of the virus.