Here today, I am just presenting information for your consideration, regarding the COVID Variants and all the symbolism connected them. Most importantly the newest KRAKEN variant.  There is a lot of clues, and I am only one person, limited by my own understanding, exposure, education, time, strength and energy.  i hope that others out there will take these clues and dig deeper.  Whatever you discover, I hope you will share it, where ever you can.  If you want to share it on this webpage, contact me.

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A Little Help from Cephalopod Relatives

Getting enough remains of fresh giant squids to probe their DNA is tough, but researchers have determined from analyzing mitochondrial DNA that giant squid are all the same species. But that’s just a handful of genes. Many copies of a full genome are needed to overlap them sufficiently to derive a complete genome. Otherwise, gaps remain.

Museum samples generally don’t work – between decay and preservatives, the DNA is hard to extract and keep intact. Fortunately, fishermen aboard a ship near New Zealand were able to send a freshly frozen tissue sample from a giant squid to the multinational research team, who went to work on the genome. “These new results may unlock several pending evolutionary questions regarding this mantled species,” said lead investigator Rute da Fonseca from the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the Globe Institute of the University of Copenhagen. The report appears in GigaScience.

Alas, many of the squid genes were shattered. So the researchers turned to analyzing messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and proteins from easier-to-handle relatives. A genome is like a hard copy, an instruction manual present in every cell. In contrast, collections of RNAs and proteins differ in different cell types, painting portraits of a living organism’s functions.

But RNA is more delicate than DNA and wouldn’t persist in a lump of rotting squid flesh. So the researchers collected mRNAs from relatives: the common clubhook squid, the Humboldt squid, and the purpleback flying squid, sampling from brains, livers, and sexual organs. They also collected proteins from the muscular mantles of museum specimens of the California two-spot octopus, the Pacific oyster, and the giant owl limpet.

Matching the RNAs and inferring DNA sequences from the proteins’ amino acid sequences, the researchers were able to flesh out the genome of the giant squid.

Protein Families

The giant squid’s genome includes 33,406 protein-encoding genes splayed across 2.7 billion DNA bases, compared to our 20,000 or so genes in a 3.2 billion base genome. About half of its genome is repeated sequences, most of which can jump around, but that’s not surprising. The genomes of corn, insects, and humans are also half or more repeats, with jumping genes too. These sequences, perhaps raw material for evolution, account for much of the variation in genome size among species. Size doesn’t really matter.

The genome of the giant squid also resembles those of other animals in that it includes gene families, groups of genes with related functions. It harbors the dozen WNT genes found in all mollusks. This gene family encodes secreted glycoprotein growth factors that take part in the cell-cell signaling that controls cell proliferation in early development and later in maintaining tissues. Humans have 19 WNT  genes.

Genes encoding proteins called protocadherins are “massively expanded” among the cephalopods. They oversee cell-cell adhesion, essential to the functioning of a nervous system. Like the WNT growth factors, the protocadherins are in vertebrate genomes too. They’re clustered, which suggests that they evolved from an ancient gene that repeatedly duplicated.

Other invertebrates and vertebrates have arrays of WNT and protocadherin genes. In contract, reflectins are specific to cephalopods, discovered in the Hawaiian bobtail squid. These proteins form flat structures that reflect ambient light, providing the trademark glow that a squid uses to blend in and communicate. In squids as well as octopuses, nine reflectin genes cluster on a chromosome.

RNA Editing and An Exploded Homeotic Gene Cluster

Two characteristics of the giant squid genome have broader implications.

The giant beast appears to be expert at editing its RNA. This skill enables the animals’ genomes to knit variations on proteins, particularly those involved in nervous system functioning.

At tens of thousands of places in the genome, the RNA-edited regions lie within “highly conserved” DNA sequences, which means that they’re identical, or nearly so, in many species. That is, natural selection has retained them over deep time because they do something essential to successful reproduction.

The other intriguing characteristic of the giant squid genome is the dispersion of its homeotic (Hox) genes. These genes control where body parts form in relation to each other, from flowers to flies to fungi to the more complex single-celled organisms.

A homeotic mutation mixes up body parts, and they’re behind some diseases of humans. I did my PhD work on the Antennapedia complex of homeotic genes in flies (see next week’s post), specifically mutations that put legs on their heads and antennae on their mouths. The homeobox – the 180-base-pair stretch within homeobox genes that controls the body “plan” – was discovered soon after I got my degree, in my lab (that of Thomas Kaufman at Indiana University). I’m a homeogirl.

The most amazing thing about the homeotic genes is that they are arrayed on a chromosome, in the genomes of all these diverse species, in the exact order in which they are deployed in development, like basketball players waiting on a bench at a game.

But that’s not the case in the giant squid genome. Instead, their homeotic genes are dispersed among chromosomes. Could this be why the body is so huge and blobby, seemingly lacking the nuances of a face, the intricacy of a flower, even the feathery filaments of a mushroom?

“Gain and loss of Hox genes has been attributed to fundamental changes in animal body plans,“ the researchers write. And loss of a major Hox gene in spider mites reduces the number of segments. So did some long-ago mutational event in the giant squid or an extinct ancestor explode the arrayed homeobox genes to new genomic addresses, while retaining enough function to form a body?

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Olga Visavi/Shutterstock

NATURE

Octopus And Squid Evolution Is Officially Weirder Than We Could Have Ever Imagined

SIGNE DEAN

17 MARCH 2018

Just when we thought octopuses couldn’t be any weirder, it turns out that they and their cephalopod brethren evolve differently from nearly every other organism on the planet.

In a surprising twist, in April last year (2017)scientists discovered that octopuses, along with some squid and cuttlefish species, routinely edit their RNA (ribonucleic acid) sequences to adapt to their environment.

This is weird because that’s really not how adaptations usually happen in multicellular animals. When an organism changes in some fundamental way, it typically starts with a genetic mutation – a change to the DNA.

Those genetic changes are then translated into action by DNA’s molecular sidekick, RNA. You can think of DNA instructions as a recipe, while RNA is the chef  that orchestrates the cooking in the kitchen of each cell, producing necessary proteins that keep the whole organism going.

But RNA doesn’t just blindly execute instructions– occasionally it improvises with some of the ingredients, changing which proteins are produced in the cell in a rare process called RNA editing.

When such an edit happens, it can change how the proteins work, allowing the organism to fine-tune its genetic information without actually undergoing any genetic mutations. But most organisms don’t really bother with this method, as it’s messy and causes problems more often that solving them.

“The consensus among folks who study such things is Mother Nature gave RNA editing a try, found it wanting, and largely abandoned it,” Anna Vlasits reported for Wired.

But it looks like cephalopods didn’t get the memo.

In 2015, researchers discovered that the common squid has edited more than 60 percent of RNA in its nervous system. Those edits essentially changed its brain physiology, presumably to adapt to various temperature conditions in the ocean.

The team returned in 2017 with an even more startling finding – at least two species of octopus and one cuttlefish do the same thing on a regular basis. To draw evolutionary comparisons, they also looked at a nautilus and a gastropod slug, and found their RNA-editing prowess to be lacking.

“This shows that high levels of RNA editing is not generally a molluscan thing; it’s an invention of the coleoid cephalopods,” said co-lead researcher, Joshua Rosenthal of the US Marine Biological Laboratory.

The researchers analysed hundreds of thousands of RNA recording sites in these animals, who belong to the coleoid subclass of cephalopods. They found that clever RNA editing was especially common in the coleoid nervous system.

“I wonder if it has to do with their extremely developed brains,” geneticist Kazuko Nishikura from the US Wistar Institute, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Ed Yong at The Atlantic.

It’s true that coleoid cephalopods are exceptionally intelligent. There are countless riveting octopus escape artist stories out there, not to mention evidence of tool use, and that one eight-armed guy at a New Zealand aquarium who learned to photograph people. (Yes, really.)

So it’s certainly a compelling hypothesis that octopus smarts might come from their unconventionally high reliance on RNA edits to keep the brain going.

“There is something fundamentally different going on in these cephalopods,” said Rosenthal.

But it’s not just that these animals are adept at fixing up their RNA as needed – the team found that this ability came with a distinct evolutionary tradeoff, which sets them apart from the rest of the animal world.

In terms of run-of-the-mill genomic evolution (the one that uses genetic mutations, as mentioned above), coleoids have been evolving really, really slowly. The researchers claimed that this has been a necessary sacrifice – if you find a mechanism that helps you survive, just keep using it.

“The conclusion here is that in order to maintain this flexibility to edit RNA, the coleoids have had to give up the ability to evolve in the surrounding regions – a lot,” said Rosenthal.

As the next step, the team will be developing genetic models of cephalopods so they can trace how and when this RNA editing kicks in.

“It could be something as simple as temperature changes or as complicated as experience, a form of memory,” said Rosenthal.

The findings have been published in Cell.

A version of this story was originally published in 2017.

Did you catch all that?

In 1944, scientist Erwin Chargaff had read Oswald Avery’s scientific paper, which identified DNA as the substance responsible for heredity. Then scientists can remove, add, or replace the DNA where it was cut. The first genome editing technologies were developed in the late 1900s   Source

In 1953, Rich–working with famed chemist Linus Pauling at Caltech--was using X-ray crystallography to try to discover the structure of RNA, hoping to learn more about its role in life. One nagging question was whether RNA, like DNA, could exist in a double-stranded helical molecule.

The x-ray images weren’t helping much; they were fuzzy, inconclusive shadows of the gooey, glassy fibers that were pulled from a glob of RNA.

At Caltech, and later at the NIH, Rich and his colleagues “talked a lot about RNA,” he told a reporter from Chemical and Engineering News last month. “But nobody–including myself–suggested, ‘Why don’t you mix together PolyA and Poly U,’ the two differing stands of RNA. It wasn’t at all obvious that could work,” he said, in part because everyone felt an enzyme would be needed to stitch them together. “People had no idea that hybridization could occur by itself.”

Ultimately Rich did try mixing the two strands, resulting in the discovery of double-stranded RNA, but to this day, he said, he can’t recall what prompted him to do so. “I’ve asked my colleagues and searched through my memory, and I don’t actually know.” But it did work, and that has made all the difference.  Source

In 1956 Rich and Davies announced in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that single strands of RNA can “hybridize,” joining together to form a double-stranded molecule. As a result of the discovery and the work that followed, scientists now routinely identify, isolate, manipulate and replace the genes in living things. Such work led to the Human Genome Projectand is pushing science toward a fundamental understanding of how life works.

The seminal discovery of double-stranded RNA by Rich and Davies came only three years after James Watson and Francis Crick stunned the scientific world by describing DNA’s structure as a double helix.

The announcement of the discovery of messenger RNA (mRNA) and the cracking of the genetic code took place within weeks of each other in a climax of scientific excitement during the summer of 1961. Although mRNA is of decisive importance to our understanding of gene function, no Nobel Prize was awarded for its discovery.  Source

The beginnings of an answer to this question were obtained in 1982, when it was discovered that  RNA molecules themselves can act as catalysts. We have seen in this chapter, for example, that a moleculeof RNA is the catalyst for the peptidyl transferase reaction that takes place on the ribosome.   Source
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RNA Discovery

• Download PDF Copy

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDReviewed by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Editor)

The discovery of RNA began with the discovery of nucleic acids by Friedrich Miescher in 1868who called the material ‘nuclein’ since it was found in the nucleus.

The discovery of RNA may be described chronologically as follows;

In 1944, scientist Erwin Chargaff had read Oswald Avery’s scientific paper, which identified DNA as the substance responsible for heredity.Then scientists can remove, add, or replace the DNA where it was cut. Thefirst genome editing technologies were developed in the late 1900s  Source

Between 1890 and 1950

• RNA was found to be distinctly different from DNA. This was noted by its sensitivity towards alkaline caused by an additional OH-group on the ribose
• Nucleic acids were isolated from various organisms
• ATP and GTP were proposed to be the cell’s general energy source and building blocks for RNA
• Chemical analysis revealed that RNA shares three bases with DNA: adenine, cytosine and guanine. Uracil as a base unique to RNA was discovered in place of thymine in DNA.
• It was in 1939 that the role of RNA in protein synthesis was discovered.

Between 1951 and 1965

• During this time the RNA types that are useful in protein synthesis were identified. Messenger RNA (mRNA) as the carrier of genetic information, transfer RNA (tRNA) acting as the physical link between mRNA and protein, and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) present in ribosomes for protein synthesis were identified.
• RNA polymerase was identified and purified.
• Severo Ochoa won the 1959Nobel Prize in Medicine after he discovered how RNA is synthesized.
• The sequence of the 77 nucleotides of yeast tRNA was found by Robert W. Holley in 1965. Holley won the 1968 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research.
• This period also saw the discovery of the genetic code that three of the bases coded uniquely for an amino acid.
• RNA acting as genetic code in some viruses was identified.

Between 1966 and 1975

• Transfer RNAs were sequenced and identified. The typical clover leaf shape of the tRNA was identified.
• X ray crystallography was used to know the shape of RNA
• In 1967 Carl Woese found the catalytic properties of RNA and speculated that the earliest forms of life relied on RNA both to carry genetic information and to catalyze biochemical reactions.
• This period saw the discovery of the Reverse transcriptase copying RNA into DNA. This was opposed to the central dogma that stated that RNA is made from DNA alone and not vice versa.

Between 1976 and 1985

• In 1976, Walter Fiers and his team determined the first complete nucleotide sequence of an RNA virus genome, that of bacteriophage MS2
• Splicing RNA was found. Introns were found to interrupt genes in their copying and the need to remove these by splicing was found.
• RNA as a biological catalyst was found. The RNase P was discovered. This led to the hypothesis of RNA as the genetic element of the “RNA world hypothesis”.
• Small RNA and protein complexes performing the splicing of the pre mRNA molecules were discovered.
• Spliceosomes as large RNA-protein complexes mediating nuclear pre-mRNA splicing were found

Between 1986 to 2000

• Editing and modifications of RNA in the cell was discovered.
• Maintenance of chromosomal ends using RNA templates in telomerases was discovered.
• Ribosomes were found to be the largest RNA enzyme

From 2000 to present

• Small RNA molecules that can regulate gene expression by post-transcriptional gene silencing were discovered
• Long non-coding RNA regulating gene expression was found. The first one was termed Xist. These were found to control epigenetic phenomena.
• Riboswitches were found that control gene expression
• Use of RNA intermediates by mobile DNA was found.

CRISPR, invented in 2009, has made it easier than ever to edit DNA. CRISPR is simpler, faster, cheaper, and more accurate than older genome editing methods.  CRISPR is a powerful tool for editing genomes, meaning it allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. CRISPR can turn genes on or off, or make them work in a different way… 

Related Stories

• RNA splicing abnormalities in COVID-19 patients
• Study suggests SARS-CoV-2 is undergoing evolutionary changes at the functional RNA level in addition to the amino acid level
• The frequency and nature of RNA errors in both SARS-CoV-2 and its vaccine

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The incredible origin story of CRISPR

The development of the revolutionary gene-engineering tool CRISPR is a tale fit for the big screen.

Jonny Thomson

“Science is less about eureka moments and lone geniuses and more about standing on the shoulders of giants.”

The story starts in 1987 when a Japanese research team headed by Yoshizumi Ishino was researching the microbe E. coli. They wanted to explore a peculiar gene called iap. This mysterious gene was unique, consisting of blocks of five identical segments of DNA divided by unique “spacer” DNA. But because this was the 1980s and the technology wasn’t sophisticated yet, the Osaka team didn’t really know what to make of the observations, or what to do with them.

Fifteen years (2002) later in the Netherlands, a team headed by Francisco Mojica and Ruud Jansen of Utrecht University renamed these “sandwiches” of iap to “CRISPR,” which means “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.” What Mojica, Jansen et al. discovered was remarkable: These genes encoded enzymes that could cut DNA. Still, no one knew why this happened, and the implications of this weren’t fully appreciated.

Three years later (2005), Eugene Koonin at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, noticed that these unique DNA bits in the “spacers” looked remarkably like viruses. And so, Koonin theorized that certain microbes were using CRISPR as a defense mechanism. It was a bacterial immune system. He suggested that bacteria used CRISPR (and their cas enzymes) to take fragments of invasive viruses and then paste them into their own cut DNA, where they acted as a kind of bacterial vaccination against future viruses, or like an immune-system memory.

It was left for microbiologist Rodolphe Barrangou to prove Koonin right. CRISPR really was cutting and pasting DNA.

The eureka moment

The implications of this were rather lost on both Barrangou and the microbiologist community. Barrangou himself used (and monetized) this technology to make virus-resistant bacteriafor his yogurt-making employer Danisco. But on the other side of the country, at the University of Berkeley, these findings were being read by two people who would transform CRISPR technology: Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier.

Doudna and Charpentier were experts in the field of RNA — the blueprints created by DNA that act as the messenger required to encode all the proteins of life. What they discovered is that the CRISPR system could be reprogrammed to cut and paste not only virus DNA, but also whatever isolated DNA they wanted. They published their findings in a now-famous 2012 Science article.

But what does “reprogram” actually mean? First, we have to understand that CRISPR not only cuts and pastes virus DNA into its own DNA (as an immune-memory system or look-up table), but also uses this information to cut up future invader viruses, which prevents them from replicating. It does this by releasing RNA matching the virus’ DNA (which it has stored) along with its own cas enzyme. If these two find any invader virus DNA, they latch on, and the cas enzyme cuts it in two. It’s an incredibly clever process.

This finding produced the eureka moment: “Oh my gosh, this could be a tool!” Doudna recalled. To make that tool, they simply needed to attach this casenzyme to an RNA of their own choosing, so that the enzyme would find and cut the matching DNA to that RNA. It’s sort of like a microbial “find and cut” function. What’s more, they could then induce a cell to stitch genes to fill the gap — a type of “find and replace” function.

Research for research’s sake

The implications of what Doudna and Charpentier discovered have opened new and unprecedented opportunities. Since their original 2012 paper, an increasing number of companies and research operations have been conjuring up exciting ways to apply CRISPR technology. Not only does it have huge application in biomedical fields, such as targeting the protein dystrophin responsible for many types of muscular dystrophy, but it also could transform agriculture, energy, and evenmammoth rewilding.

As with any new technology, there are dangers and ethical questions surrounding the use of CRISPR, especially concerning the prospect of creating “designer babies”. In 2018, the issue stepped out of the theoretical realm when the Chinese scientist He Jiankui edited human embryos for the first time in history, in an attempt to make the babies resistant to the HIV virus. (He was sentenced to three years in prison.) Arguably, these are normal calibration issues that society must deal with when faced with a revolutionary technology.

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Jonny Thomson teaches philosophy in Oxford. He runs a popular Instagram account called Mini Philosophy (@philosophyminis). His first book is Mini Philosophy: A Small Book of Big Ideas.

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Beyond difficulty, some critics of de-extinction efforts have argued that projects like Colossal are a waste of resources — a pointless vanity project for millionaires and quixotic scientists. 

Depressing as it might be, without the pursuit of profit, power, and, sure, the vanity of it all, science would find it much harder to get the funding it needs to move forward. This is not just about mammoths; this is about conservation, gene editing, re-wilding, and the power of science itself. So, keep an eye on Colossal, and on this exciting new project. And probably avoid skiing in Siberia in the near future.   Source

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Robin Monotti @robinmonotti The real purpose of mass mRNA injections was not to “save lives”, but to normalize a new Pharma market of mRNA gene modifications because the patents of “normal” medicines are all expiring & Pharma profits nosediving. WATCH THE VIDEO 6:09 AM · Jan 15, 2023·

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The Greek Letters/Symbols and Their Meanings – Mythologian

Omicron ( όμικρον) is the fifteenth letter in the Greek alphabet written as Ο in uppercase and ο in lowercase. Although initially the capital omicron was used to denote the asymptomatic growth of a function, the symbol now is rarely used as it is practically same with the letter O in Latin alphabet. Pi

Etymology
omni- +‎ omicron. Corruption of omicron. From the misconception and mispronunciation arising from the common term omni- and fraction -cron and the uncommon but similar form omi… found in omicron

Noun

omnicron (uncountable)

1. 1. (COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant (“B.1.1.529”) synonyms ▲

      Synonyms: Omnicron, Omnicron variant, Omnicron strain, Omnicron virus, omnicron variant, omnicron strain, omnicron virus

      Misspelling of omicron. coordinate term

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Omicron
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Omicron (/ˈoʊmɪkrɒn,ˈɒmɪkrɒn,oʊˈmaɪkrɒn/;^[1] uppercase Ο, lowercase ο, Greek: όμικρον) is the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. This letter is derived from the Phoenician letter ayin: . In classical Greek, omicron represented the close-mid back rounded vowelIPA: [o] in contrast to omega which represented the open-mid back rounded vowelIPA: [ɔː] and the digraphου which represented the longclose-mid back rounded vowelIPA: [oː]. In modern Greek, both omicron and omega represent themid back rounded vowelIPA: [o̞] or IPA: [ɔ̝]. Letters that arose from omicron include Roman O and Cyrillic O. The word literally means “little O” (o mikron) as opposed to “great O” (ō mega).^[2]In the system ofGreek numerals, omicron has a value of 70.   (70 as in 70 nations)

Properties of the number 70    Symbolism Number corresponding to the totality of an evolution, an evolutionary cycle being completely completed, according to Saint Augustin. Number representing the universality according to the Bible. The corresponding Hebraic letter is hain, which corresponded to the sixteenth mystery of the Tarot: the house-God, symbol of fall, collapse, catastrophe– there is agreement with the idea of termination of cycle, according to R. Allendy. Bible Seventy years, the duration of days of a king. (Is 23,15) The 70 weeks prophecy of the book of Daniel. (Dn 9,24) The 70 years of captivity of Babylonian of two of the twelve tributes of Israel. (2 Ch 36,21) Ezekiel sees 70 ancients adoring the idols. (Ezk 8,11) The 70 palm trees of Elim. (Ex 15,27) Jacob has fathered 70 children. (Ex 1,5) One gave 70 money weight to Abimelech. (Jg 9,4) Abdon had 70 sons and nephews. The psalmist establishes the ordinary course of the human life at 70 years. (Ps 90,10) The 70 peoples of the earth dispersed after the sacrilegious construction of the tower of Babel, fault that falls down on the whole humanity. (Gn 10) Age of Kenan when he fathered Mahalalel. (Gn 5,12) The 70 Hebrews who entered with Jacob in Egypt. (Gn 46,27) Egyptians cried the death of Jacob during 70 days. (Gn 50,3) The law required that mothers went to the temple of Jerusalem, 70 days after the arrival of a girl, to offer a lamb of one year and a turtledove or a young pigeon.

Use

In addition to its use as an alphabetic letter, omicron is occasionally used in technical notation,^{[citation needed]} but its use is limited since both upper case and lower case (Ο ο) are indistinguishable from the Latin letter “o” (O o) and difficult to distinguish from the Arabic numeral “zero” (0).

Mathematics

The big-O symbol introduced by Paul Bachmann in 1894 and popularized by Edmund Landau in 1909, originally standing for “order of” (“Ordnung”) and being thus a Latin letter, was apparently viewed by Donald Knuth in 1976^[3] as a capital Omicron, probably in reference to his definition of the symbol (capital) Omega. Neither Bachmann nor Landau ever call it “Omicron”, and the word “Omicron” appears just once in Knuth’s paper: in the title

History

Detail from a fifth century BCE inscription of Draco‘s law on homicide, showing the use of O rather than Ω in the phrase “ΠΡΟΤΟΣ ΑΧΣΟΝ” (πρώτος ἄξων, “first axon”)

In the earliest Greek inscriptions, only five vowel letters A E I O Y were used. Vowel length was undifferentiated, with O representing both the short vowel /o/ and the long vowels /o:/ and /ɔː/.^[8](p 19) Later, in classical Attic Greek orthography, the three vowels were represented differently, with O representing short /o/, the new letter Ω representing long /ɔː/, and the so-called “spurious diphthong” OY representing long /o:/.^{[8](pp 56, 71)}

Although the Greeks took the character O from the Phoenician letter `ayin, they did not borrow its Phoenician name. Instead, the name of the letter O in classical Attic times was simply the long version of its characteric sound: οὖ (pronounced /o:/) (that of Ω was likewise ὦ).^[9][d] By the second and third centuries CE, distinctions between long and short vowels began to disappear in pronunciation, leading to confusion between O and Ω in spelling. It was at this time that the new names of ὂ μικρόν (“small O”) for O ὦ μέγα (“great O”) for Ω were introduced.^[9]

Was the B.1.1.529 variant of the SARS-CoV-2

RISE

December 5, 2021 · 

The Greek Letter ‘Delta’ is Pyramid shaped… and the Phoenician Letter for ‘Omicron’ is ‘Ayin’ whose Symbol just happens to be an ‘EYE”.

The meme contains three graphics that are labelled:

Delta, Omicron and Illuminati

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Mon Dec 6 15:05:31 2021 UTC)

On May 8, 2015, the World Health Organization issued some best practices for the naming of “new infections, syndromes, and diseases that have never been recognized or reported before in humans, that have potential public health impact, and for which there is no disease name in common usage.” The hope was to avoid the negative stigmatizing effect of naming diseases after people, places, animals or occupations.

On May 31, 2021, the WHO announced the Greek alphabet would be used to refer to specific variants of SARS-CoV-2 in addition to continuing to use the scientific naming systems. Currently there are five Variants of Concern (VOCs) — Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron — and two Variants of Interest (VOIs) — Lambda and Mu. Three Greek-letter-identified variants are no longer considered of concern: Kappa, Iota and Eta.

Lambda – Wikipedia Lambda ( / ˈlæmdə /; [1] uppercase Λ, lowercase λ; Greek: λάμ (β)δα, lám (b)da) is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced alveolar lateral approximant IPA: [l]. In the system of Greek numerals, lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is derived from the Phoenician Lamed . Lambda gave rise to the Latin L and the Cyrillic El (Л).                                      Greek Lambda                                                                     Cyrillic El

Lambda etymology (anatomy) The junction of the lambdoid and sagittal sutures of the cranium. (computing, programming) A lambda expression.. (physics) A lambda baryon. (physics) The cosmological constant.. The eleventh letter of the Classical and Modern Greek alphabet, the twelfth of the Old Greek alphabet.. Unit representation of wavelength.

Mu etymology in English | Etymologeek.com English word mu comes from Mandarin 畝 You can also see our other etymologies for the English word mu. Currently you are viewing the etymology of mu with the meaning: (Noun) A unit of surface area, currently equivalent to 666 and 2/3 meters squared. Detailed word origin of mu

Origin of Mu The twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet (Μ, μ) μ (a mu particle) Greek mū of Phoenician origin my2 in Semitic roots Similarly in the case of the sign MU, which, besides signifying ” name ” as above pointed out, is also the Sumerian word for ” give,” and therefore may be read iddin, ” he gave,” from nadanu, or may be read nadin, ” giver “; and when, as actually happens, a name occurs in which the first element is the name of a deity followed by MU–MU, a new element of doubt is introduced through the uncertainty whether the first MU is to be taken as a form of the verb nadanu and the second as the noun shumu, ” name,” or vice versa.

mu  –  noun ˈmyü  ˈmü  : the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet  —Μ or μ Medical Definition   mu – noun ˈmyü  ˈmü  plural  mu : MICRON

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An article published on nytimes.com on November 27, 2021, titled, “How Omicron, the New Covid-19 Variant, Got Its Name” quotes a WHO spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, about why WHO skipped over the Greek letters Nu and Xi:

‘Nu’ is too easily confounded with ‘new’ and ‘Xi’ was not used because it is a common last name.

In this pictogram meme puzzle, only the first figure, the Greek letter Delta, has an accurate label.

The Phoenician letter “ayin” and Greek letter Omicron that were derived from “ayn” are both written as a simple circle or oval.  As you can see from the graph snippet below, “Ayn” clearly means EYE and was originally written as an oval with a line in it.

The Invention of the Alphabet

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The BA. 2 subvariant has been referred to as stealth Omicron because it contains genetic mutations that can make it harder to distinguish from the Delta variant using PCR tests compared to the original Omicron variant.  Apr 22, 2022

What To Know About BA.2, the ‘Stealth’ Omicron Variant

The subvariant was detected in the U.S. during the early months of 2022, and experts said that it’s not a cause for major concern.

By Korin Miller

Updated on November 29, 2022

 Medically reviewed by

Isabel Casimiro, MD

GETTY IMAGES

The SARS-CoV-2 virus  has mutated several times since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization reported in February 2022 that another version of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was increasing in many countries—and the organization urged researchers to investigate whether the strain posed any new threats to the state of the pandemic.

The version, known as BA.2, is a descendant of the Omicron variant (known as BA.1). According to the WHO, BA.2 has some differences in some of its mutations—including ones on the spike protein—compared to BA.1. Those differences, along with BA.2’s increasing spread in some areas, led the WHO to recommend investigations into the characteristics of BA.2

 

According to Statens Serum Institut (SSI), Denmark’s governmental research institute, BA.2 has some genetic differences compared to BA.1 in “the most important areas”. The SSI said “the difference between BA.1 and BA.2 is greater than the original [SARS-CoV-2] and the Alpha variant,” and those differences could mean differences in “infectiousness, vaccine efficiency, or severity.”

The Spread of BA.2

In early 2022, the variant was most prominent (at least by way of testing) in Denmark—nearly half of all Danish cases of Omicron were due to BA.2 at that time, according to SSI. According to the UKHSA, after Denmark, most sequences of BA.2 were initially found in India, Sweden, and Singapore.

By January 2022, it was reported that “more than 100 cases” had been detected in the United States across 20 states, according to data from GISAID, an open-access genetic sequencing database.

 Should You Retest After Testing Positive for COVID-19—And if So, When?

 

Why Was BA.2 Called ‘Stealth Omicron’?

According to a January 24, 2022, article in The Washington Post, some scientists gave BA.2 the nickname “stealth Omicron,” with the claim that it has certain genetic traits that make it more difficult to identify as Omicron on diagnostic tests—specifically polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) tests.

But that “stealthiness” doesn’t mean the virus itself goes undetected—just that it’s harder to classify as Omicron, John Sellick, DO, an epidemiologist and professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo/SUNY, told Health.

When the original Omicron variant shows up on a PCR test, it can be quickly identified, due to a genetic deletion in the virus’ spike protein—this elicits what’s known as an “S-gene target failure” in some PCR tests, which allowed researchers to accurately identify the virus as Omicron, according to the UKHSA. BA.2 doesn’t have that genetic deletion, which makes it harder to detect and classify as Omicron on those tests.

In that case—because BA.2 isn’t evading detection, just classification—its “stealth Omicron” nickname is “illogical,” Gary Whittaker, PhD, professor of virology at Cornell University, told Health.

Ultimately, Dr. Sellick said the “stealth Omicron” nickname may be helpful for scientists in a laboratory setting, but not so much in a clinical manner—meaning it won’t change the results of your positive COVID-19 test or the care you’d receive.

 

Is BA.2 a Cause For Concern?

Initial research conducted by the SSI showed no differences in the hospitalization rates for BA.2 as compared to BA.1. And while further research needs to be done on how the Omicron versions differ in transmissibility and vaccine efficiency, the institute said at the time “it is expected that vaccines also have an effect against severe illness upon BA.2 infection.”

According to the CDC COVID-19 data tracker, the rates of infections caused by the BA.2 variant declined after the first few months of 2022, and other variants began to emerge.

 

COVID-19 Variants

BA.2 aside, Perry Halkitis, PhD, professor of epidemiology at Rutgers School of Public Health, said at the time that this subvariant—along with the previous variants and any more to come—are expected. “We’re going to continue to see mutations throughout the course of our history around COVID because we haven’t completely eradicated the virus,” Dr. Halkitis added.

One factor is the number of people who are still unvaccinated. “We have too many people [who are] unvaccinated,” Dr. Sellick said. “It’s letting this virus multiply and replicate a lot. These mutations are just going to continue to crop up and give us new variants.”

The information in this story is accurate as of press time. However, as the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to evolve, it’s possible that some data have changed since publication. While Health is trying to keep our stories as up-to-date as possible, we also encourage readers to stay informed on news and recommendations for their own communities by using the CDC, WHO, and their local public health department as resources.

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Difference Between Alpha Beta Gamma And Delta Variants In Coronavirus

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The coronavirus pandemic has created a great deal of confusion and fear around the world. With the emergence of new variants of the virus, it is important to understand the differences between them. Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants are the four main variants of the virus, and each has its own unique characteristics.

 

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What is the Alpha Variant?

The Alpha variant is the original strain of the virus and is the basis for all other variants. It was first identified in the United Kingdom in December 2019 and has since been found in many other countries. The Alpha variant is thought to be the most contagious and is the most widely-circulating strain of the virus.

What is the Beta Variant?

The Beta variant is a mutated form of the Alpha variant and was first identified in South Africa in October 2020. It is thought to be more transmissible than the Alpha variant and is also associated with more severe symptoms. It is believed to be responsible for the surge of cases in South Africa and has since been found in other countries, including the United States.

 

What is the Gamma Variant?

The Gamma variant is a mutated form of the Beta variant and was first identified in India in October 2020. It is thought to be more transmissible than the Beta variant and is also associated with more severe symptoms. It is believed to be responsible for the surge of cases in India and has since been found in other countries, including the United States.

What is the Delta Variant?

The Delta variant is a mutated form of the Gamma variant and was first identified in India in April 2021. It is thought to be more transmissible than the Gamma variant and is also associated with more severe symptoms. It is believed to be responsible for the surge of cases in India and has since been found in other countries, including the United States.

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