This coronavirus mutation has taken over the world. Scientists are trying to understand why.

A mutation that seems trivial could be making the virus spread more easily. At least four laboratory experiments suggest that the mutation makes the virus more infectious, although none of that work has been peer-reviewed. Another unpublished study led by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory asserts that patients with the G variant actually have more virus in their bodies, making them more likely to spread it to others.