Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS FEATURE

Omicron’s lasting mysteries: four questions scientists are racing to answer

The fast-moving variant poses new puzzles in viral transmission, severity and evolution.
  1. Amber Dance

    1. Amber Dance is a science journalist in Los Angeles, California.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

A woman has her nose swabbed as part of a test for COVID-10 infection in Brazil

Omicron infects the cells of the nose, throat and lungs differently from former variants. Credit: Lucas Landau/Reuters/Alamy

Infection rates with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are plummeting in many countries around the world. But scientists are still struggling to understand how it spread so rapidly and what it might do next, especially because the subvariant known as BA.2 is rising in some places.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 603, 22-24 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00428-5

References

  1. Hui, K. P. Y. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04479-6 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Peacock, T. P. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.31.474653 (2022).

  3. Abdelnabi, R. et al. Antiviral Res. 198, 105253 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hay, J. A. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.13.22269257 (2022).

  5. Puhach, O. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.10.22269010 (2022).

  6. Willet, B. J. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.03.21268111 (2022).

  7. Wang, L. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.12.22269179 (2022).

  8. Davies, M.-A. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.12.22269148 (2022).

  9. Bojkova, D. et al. Cell Res. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-022-00619-9 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Shalamova, L. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.20.476754 (2022).

  11. Choi, S. J. et al. Cell. Mol. Immunol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-022-00838-5 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Shiliaev, N. et al. J. Virol. 95, e01357-21 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Szemiel, A. M. et al. PLoS Pathog. 17, e1009929 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Faculty Positions at SUSTech School of Medicine

    SUSTech School of Medicine offers equal opportunities and welcome applicants from the world with all ethnic backgrounds.

    Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

    Southern University of Science and Technology, School of Medicine

  • Postdoctoral Fellowships Worldwide

    IBSA Foundation for scientific research offers 6 fellowships offers of € 32.000 to young researchers under 40 years.

    The call is open to people from research institutes and universities from all over the world.

    IBSA Foundation for scientific research

  • Staff Scientist - Immunology

    Staff Scientist- Immunology

    Houston, Texas (US)

    Baylor College of Medicine (BCM)

  • Institute for Systems Genetics, Tenure Track Faculty Positions

    The Institute for Systems Genetics at NYU Langone Health has tenure track faculty positions (assistant professor level) at the new SynBioMed Center.

    New York City, New York (US)

    NYU Langone Health

  • Faculty Position

    The Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology (ICOB), Academia Sinica, Taiwan, is seeking candidates to fill multiple tenure-track faculty position

    Taipei (TW)

    Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links