*** OFFICIAL BREXIT SUNLIT UPLANDS and #MEGA THREAD ***

[boost]

How much faith do you have in such studies? Other sources imply that vaccinations cause mutations of the virus.

This is the way it's typically talked about, but to be perfectly accurate, the environmental pressures are not causing mutation, they're selecting for the fittest mutation for the given environment. Here's the thing though, any change in environment will cause selection pressures. For example, people gaining immunity by way of getting the virus and dodging death puts selection pressure on the virus.

The way that we stop new strains is via vaccination and social distancing/ppe. The more immunity and the less paths of transmission, the less circulation, the less chances a viable mutation catches fire.

[OngBonga]

This is the way it's typically talked about, but to be perfectly accurate, the environmental pressures are not causing mutation, they're selecting for the fittest mutation for the given environment. Here's the thing though, any change in environment will cause selection pressures. For example, people gaining immunity by way of getting the virus and dodging death puts selection pressure on the virus.

The way that we stop new strains is via vaccination and social distancing/ppe. The more immunity and the less paths of transmission, the less circulation, the less chances a viable mutation catches fire.

I'm not disputing this, but neither am I blindly accepting it as fact.

Mutations should be a good thing, best I understand it. A virus is evolving because to be successful, it wants to be more contagious and less damaging to its host. The perfect virus is very easily transmitted between people, without being noticed at all.

I'm not a virologist though, and presumably neither is anyone else here.

[boost]

I'm not disputing this, but neither am I blindly accepting it as fact.

Mutations should be a good thing, best I understand it. A virus is evolving because to be successful, it wants to be more contagious and less damaging to its host. The perfect virus is very easily transmitted between people, without being noticed at all.

I'm not a virologist though, and presumably neither is anyone else here.

I am not a virologist but I think this is akin to the entropy argument theist will make. As I understand it, on the whole, the trend is towards more contagious/less damage, but that doesn't guarantee the characteristics of any given dominant mutation. For example, a mutation which is more deadly but also has a longer span in which the infected is contagious but asymptomatic increases the lag between mutation and further environmental pressure. To the extreme, such a mutation could see society collapse before environmental pressures tell it to chill tf out.

[OngBonga]

I am not a virologist but I think this is akin to the entropy argument theist will make. As I understand it, on the whole, the trend is towards more contagious/less damage, but that doesn't guarantee the characteristics of any given dominant mutation. For example, a mutation which is more deadly but also has a longer span in which the infected is contagious but asymptomatic increases the lag between mutation and further environmental pressure. To the extreme, such a mutation could see society collapse before environmental pressures tell it to chill tf out.

I'm probably wrong. I don't take an interest in evolution quite like I do with physics.