Key Points
Earlier this yearMarc Johnson, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, took to social media with an appeal: "Help me solve a COVID cryptic lineage mystery," he wrote on Twitter...
Johnson told Insider that he was looking through a database of COVID sampleswhen he came across abrand-new version (or, "lineage") of the virus.There were massive amounts of thisunique strain all coming from a single mystery person in Ohio...
But finding these lineages, and identifying the people who spread them, could unlock new clues into how COVID mutates, as well as why as some people become super-shedders of the virus for long periods of time...
Long before Omicron emerged, researchers were collecting samples of COVID that they didn't recognize cryptic lineages that we now understand to be similar toOmicron, according to a preprint paper (not-yet-peer-reviewed) published last month by Johnson and his team...
While some people have voiced concerns that he might be invading someone's medical privacy, Johnson says "there's no manhunt" going on; the only reason he's being public about the situation is in the hopes that someone recognizes themselves, a friend, or family member is the person with the cryptic lineage, and seeks help...
