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Convergent Evolution

(LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
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February 1, 2021 9:44 a.m.
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One of the uncanny features of the COVID Pandemic – certainly one of the great events of all of our lifetimes – is the mix of horror and fascination one experiences learning new dimensions of the scourge. One of these for me has been watching scientists unravel the details of the new COVID variants now galloping around the globe, a sprint of investigative work only possible with the powerful genomic analysis tools that didn’t even exist a few decades ago. (In 1918, science didn’t even know there was such a thing as viruses. Or rather viruses weren’t recognized as distinct from bacterial infection.)

For me the big fascination and warning sign has been the new discussion of ‘convergent evolution’.

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