Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Mincer, Tracy

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, commonly referred to by the disease it causes, COVID-19, took the world by surprise in late 2019 and triggered a multi-year-long pandemic. Helped by its initial airborne infectivity, the virus accumulated mutations causing the disease to become even more infectious and lethal. This led to variants that struck the globe in waves, outcompeting their predecessors and leading to yet more mutations. However, this trend ended with the emergence of Omicron, the present dominant variant, which exhibits greater infectivity but lessened lethality. Notably, the same mutations have repeatedly emerged, evolving from independent lineages all around the planet. This paper aims to identify and compare these mutations, and evaluate their influence on the variants that they inhabit. Using this information, this paper predicts characteristics of future SARS-CoV-2 variants by speculating what changes Omicron may undergo.

Comments

Thesis (B.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, 2022

Extent

52 p.

Identifier

FAUHT00231

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