How does the virus know that it does need to mutate or is it just random? Are there known internal factors within the living organism are the direct cause for mutations?
Why does a substitution in nucleotide base pairs take place?
Or perhaps non living mater that is near by as part of the life support medium of the living organism?
I’ve been asking myself for a long time and perhaps many others still are interested in the Virus mutation mechanisms, more like the factors that produce such event(s). Here, also as branching out the question, I propose to discuss about the biological transmutation of elements phenomenon.
Enzymes suffer transformations, modifications, mutate. Viruses do mutate.
There are mechanisms, the internal or some external clocks and / or some physical events with chemical reactions implications that take place I believe.
Are isotopic activities possible factors to trigger virus mutations? Is it the same for enzymes?
Perhaps we should look at it closer to be able to identify not only possible triggers but also to better understand the mechanisms that mutations take place in their complexity.
Or perhaps we have a combination of isotopic activity and other activities that interact?
If any isotopic activity is involved, what are the isotopes we may talk about or have under observation? What are the atoms we may look closer at?
What is known, proved or at least of hypothetical nature in this area of concern?
I hope I made myself understood as is not really my line of specialty.
Thanks to all members in advance and perhaps we can work something out, a research project may be borne out of this as team work? It is multidisciplinary complex subject that perhaps is worthwhile to try to unveil.
Adrian Toader-Williams