Skal vi frygte, at coronaen muterer? Müssen wir eine Mutation des Coronavirus befürchten? Should we fear the coronavirus mutating?

Scenen her er fra "Contagion" fra 2011, som lige nu hitter stort. This scene is from "Contagion" from 2011, which is currently a big hit.

Den handler om en virusskabt pandemi, der rammer kloden. It's about a viral pandemic that hits the globe.

I filmen muterer virus og bliver mere dødbringende. In the movie, the virus mutates and becomes more deadly.

Hvad med coronavirus? What about coronavirus?

Skal vi være bange for, at det muterer, så helvede bryder løs? Should we be afraid it will mutate and all hell will break loose?

Helvede vender vi tilbage til. Coronavirus er i gang med at mutere. Hell we return to. Coronavirus is mutating.

Forskere har sammen med Statens Serum Institut fundet ud af - Researchers together with Statens Serum Institut have found that

- at virus muterer, hver gang det hopper til en ny. - that the virus mutates every time it jumps to a new one.

Mutation er en helt naturlig del af biologien. Mutation is a natural part of biology.

Det er ikke opfundet af nogle freaky videnskabsfolk. It wasn't invented by some freaky scientist.

Søren Riis Paludan er professor i virologi og immunologi - Søren Riis Paludan is a professor of virology and immunology

- og ved ret meget om vira. - and know a lot about viruses.

- Han er ikke overrasket. - Det her ville man forvente. - He's not surprised: "This is to be expected.

Coronavirus er et RNA-virus og har arvematerialet i en enkelt streng. Coronavirus is an RNA virus and has its genetic material in a single strand.

Når virus muterer, kan to baser bytte plads. When viruses mutate, two bases can swap places.

Så ændrer virus sig lidt, men bevarer ofte sine evner. Then the virus changes slightly, but often retains its abilities.

Det kan blive bedre til at sprede sig, men bliver måske mindre farligt. It may get better at spreading, but may become less dangerous.

Vi er tættere på en pandemi. We are closer to a pandemic.

Det skete med fugle- og svineinfluenza, der begge er RNA-vira. This happened with avian and swine flu, both of which are RNA viruses.

De muterede udgaver var bedre til at sprede sig, men var mindre dødelige. The mutated versions were better at spreading but were less lethal.

Det er bare ikke altid sådan. Nogle vira bliver mere dødelige. It's just not always the case. Some viruses become more deadly.

Under ebola-epidemien i 2014 viste det sig - During the Ebola epidemic in 2014, it turned out

- at den muterede udgave smittede langt flere. - that the mutated version infected far more people.

Og der var større risiko for at dø af den muterede udgave. And there was a higher risk of dying from the mutated version.

Vi ved altså, at coronavirusset muterer. Vi ved også, hvor ofte det muterer. So, we know that the coronavirus mutates. We also know how often it mutates.

Det er ikke nødvendigvis godt eller skidt. It's not necessarily good or bad.

Nogle vira muterer rigtig meget: mæslinger, HIV og influenza. Some viruses mutate a lot: measles, HIV and influenza.

Andre muterer aldrig. Others never mutate.

Coronavirus ligger et sted i midten, så nej. Coronavirus is somewhere in the middle, so no.

Ifølge Søren Riis skal vi ikke frygte, at helvede pludselig bryder løs. According to Søren Riis, we shouldn't fear that all hell will suddenly break loose.

Mutationer er en naturlig del af biologien. Mutations are a natural part of biology.

De fører næsten altid til, at virus bliver mindre sygdomsfremkaldende. They almost always lead to the virus becoming less pathogenic.

Vira bliver ofte mindre farlige, når de hopper fra en dyreart til en anden - Viruses often become less dangerous when they jump from one animal species to another

- som coronavirusset, der kan stamme fra en flagermus. - like the coronavirus, which can originate from a bat.

Det er meget usandsynligt med en killervirus fra en mutation. A killer virus from a mutation is highly unlikely.

Det er ikke en fordel at blive en killervirus. Becoming a killer virus is not an advantage.

Virus har ingen interesse i at slå sin vært ihjel. Viruses have no interest in killing their host.

Evolutionært klarer virus sig bedst - In evolutionary terms, viruses do best

- hvis den inficerer mange individer, som spreder virus videre. - if it infects many individuals who spread the virus further.

Langt de fleste bliver heldigvis raske. Fortunately, the vast majority recover.

Man mener, at de fleste bliver immune og i en periode ikke kan smittes igen. It is believed that most people become immune and for a period of time cannot be re-infected.

Søren Riis forventer, at de fleste er immune i 3-5 år. Søren Riis expects most people to be immune for 3-5 years.

Det er mere uklart - It's more unclear

- om virus kan ændre sig så meget, at man kan blive smittet igen. - whether the virus can change so much that you can get infected again.

Det kan vi ikke rigtig udtale os om i dag. We can't really comment on that today.

Der er meget, vi ikke ved om covid-19. There's a lot we don't know about COVID-19.

Ingen behandling og vaccine. No treatment and vaccine.

Det er ikke realistisk, at virus muterer og bliver mere dødbringende. It's not realistic for viruses to mutate and become more deadly.

Ordet "mutation" skal ikke få en til at tænke på noget skadeligt - The word "mutation" shouldn't make you think of something harmful -

- som vil ødelægge verden. - who want to destroy the world.