Moscow. December 9th. INTERFAX - Protein crystals of the new coronavirus strain "Omicron" will be grown on the International Space Station (ISS), said Yusef Hesuani, co-founder of 3D Bioprinting Solutions.
"The experiment that we have planned for the near future is to study the structure of proteins that, unfortunately, have been well known for the past two years - these are the S-protein and RBD proteins of the coronavirus spike. And, in fact, the first rbd proteins and spike protein of the new omicron strain have already been obtained in Russia," Hesuani said during the Congress of Young Scientists.
"As one of the goals and objectives is to crystallize these proteins in space to understand their critical structure, including for the selection of drugs," he added.
Earlier, the director of the scientific center "Vector" of Rospotrebnadzor Rinat Maksyutov told Interfax that the center is studying the obtained clinical samples with the "omicron strain" of the coronavirus.
"There is a clinical sample with a confirmed sequence (the sequence of the omicron genetic code). (...) The full complex takes about two months," Maksyutov said on Thursday.
At the same time, he said that the clinical sample is "not yet an omicron strain," it "transforms into a virus in at least two weeks through cell culture crops." "Only after that, when we received it, characterized it, determined its activity, then we can say that we have a strain," Maksyutov added.
On December 6, Rospotrebnadzor reported the first two cases of "omicron"-strain, who arrived in Russia from South Africa. Since December 3, coronavirus or signs of this disease have been diagnosed in 28 arrivals from southern Africa, they have been hospitalized.
Variant B.1.1.529, which was named "omicron", was discovered at the end of November in South Africa, Botswana, Israel, and has already been identified in a number of European countries, in the USA. Experts believe that it can pose a threat, as it spreads much faster than other strains that scientists have identified during the pandemic, and contains a large number of mutations.
