What makes one virus mutate quickly while others change more slowly?
The genetic material inside the virus plays an enormous role in how quickly a virus mutates, which in turn can impact how the illness can spread in the population. Viruses that replicate through DNA use the same mechanisms the host cell uses to create its own DNA, a process that includes a kind of “proof-reading” of the genetic material being copied. This means mutations occur more slowly. Examples of DNA viruses such as smallpox. These viruses spread through human populations and were often fatal. But once vaccinations were developed viruses like smallpox were contained and all but eradicated. RNA viruses, on the other hand, replicate without a similar proofreading activity, and as a result, errors in the genetic coding occur. Its these errors that allow RNA viruses, such as influenza and HIV, to mutate rapidly from host cell to host cell, and make it difficult for vaccines and natural immunities to keep up and prepare for new strains of the virus.
