---
title: "UNM researchers discover new COVID-19 variation in New Mexico population"
description: "Daryl Domman, Assistant Professor at the UNM Center for Global Health, and Darrell Dinwiddie, Assistant Professor in the UNM Department of Pediatrics, have discovered a novel variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among COVID-19-positive samples in New Mexico."
type: News
tags:
  - News
date: "2021-02"
generated:
  by: "process:scripts/port_legacy_pages.py"
  at: "2026-09-10T00:00:00Z"
sources:
  - id: carc-web
    resource: "https://carc.unm.edu/news--events/News/unm-researchers-discover-new-covid-19-variation-in-new-mexico-population.html"
    title: "UNM researchers discover new COVID-19 variation in New Mexico population (carc.unm.edu)"
    author: "team:unm-carc"
---

# UNM researchers discover new COVID-19 variation in New Mexico population

<p class="carc-byline">February 2021</p>

Daryl Domman, Assistant Professor at the UNM Center for Global Health, and
Darrell Dinwiddie, Assistant Professor in the UNM Department of Pediatrics,
have discovered a novel variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among
COVID-19-positive samples in New Mexico. The two have been working with the
New Mexico Department of Health and other health officials to sequence the
genomes of coronavirus samples from across the state, as well as those from
other regions of the Rocky Mountains. A new variant, named the “Pelican
Lineage,” has been observed in New Mexican samples dating back to December
2020.

Health scientists around the world have been coordinating their efforts to
understand the coronavirus by uploading the genomic data they collect to an
online platform called [GISAID](https://www.gisaid.org/){target=_blank}. After
noticing an unfamiliar mutation at the 677P site of the genetic sequence in
several of his SARS-CoV-2 samples, Domman turned to GISAID to see if anyone
else had found a similar variant.

Domman reports, “It was very early on a Saturday morning when I was combing
through this data. I saw the mutation and then I immediately went to this
GISAID data to see where else this might be popping up.” Domman found that
researcher Jeremy Kamil, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at
Louisiana State University in Shreveport, had uncovered the same mutation in
COVID-19 samples from Louisiana.

![Researcher examining a slide in a lab setting](/assets/covid-19-variant-new-mexico-variant-pelican-lineage.jpg)

*Researcher examining a slide in a lab setting*

While there is no clinical evidence to suggest that this new variant has made
the virus more deadly or contagious, there is reason to suspect that the
mutation could offer an evolutionary advantage. The first reason for this
suspicion is that the 677P mutation affects the spike protein of the virus. A
spike protein is, as Domman says, the “molecular handshake that occurs between
the virus and the human cell.” This protein is essential to the virus’s
ability to connect with and infect a host; because of this, it is the part of
a virus that is typically targeted by our own immune cells. A mutation in this
part of the SARS-CoV-2 genome has the potential to make infection easier for
the virus.

The second cause for concern is that the mutation appears to be the result of
convergent evolution. Convergent evolution is a term used to describe how
multiple populations can independently develop the same beneficial trait
through the process of natural selection. Mutations at the 677 position have
been found in seven separate lineages of SARS-CoV-2 spread across at least 20
US states so far. These lineages did not inherit the mutation from a common
ancestor; they acquired the same trait via separate paths of evolution. While
researchers aren’t able to say how or if the 677P mutation helps SARS-CoV-2
survive or spread, the number of times that the same trait has cropped up in
separate variants suggests that it may be somehow useful to the virus.

Of the New Mexican COVID-19 samples dating back to December 2020, about 11% of
them contain the 677P mutation. This number seems to be holding steady.

The data generated by this project is sequenced and stored using Center for
Advanced Research Computing resources. Genomic sequencing requires an immense
amount of computing power—far more than what a personal computer is capable of
handling.

“We literally could not do it without CARC. It has been absolutely fundamental
and crucial to utilize the supercomputing facility in order to process all of
this genomic data. We are generating results at an enormous pace and it’s a
lot of data. The folks at CARC have just been incredible in terms of providing
us the computational resources, which is a free service to the university,
which is an amazing thing. They are also very accommodating our
ever-increasing demand for space,” Domman explains, adding, “They’ve really
underpinned our ability to provide this data back to New Mexico.”

Domman and Dinwiddie, along with the New Mexico Department of Health (NM DOH),
have been analyzing COVID-19 samples since the Spring of 2020 as a part of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
[SPHERES](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/spheres.html#:~:text=SPHERES%20Objectives&text=To%20improve%20coordination%20of%20genomic,the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic%20response.){target=_blank}
program. Because of their efforts along with NM DOH, the state of New Mexico
has the seventh highest rate of SARS-CoV-2 sample sequencing in the country.
Nationally, only about 0.3% of positive samples are sequenced; in New Mexico,
that rate is over 1%. Domman and Dinwiddie hope to bring New Mexico’s genomic
sequencing rate to over 5% of samples.

The key to New Mexico’s success may be the extensive coordination of local
health entities. Domman and Dinwiddie have been working in concert with
physicians, TriCore Reference Laboratories, NM DOH, the Los Alamos National
Laboratory, and others. Domman comments, “Here in New Mexico I think we’ve had
this amazing opportunity for all of our major public health entities and
diagnostic centers to come together as one unit.”

Currently, this work is being funded primarily by a Pilot Award from the UNM
Clinical & Translational Science Center along with fellowship funding. Domman
and Dinwiddie are hoping to further their research using funds from multiple
sources.

Moving forward, Domman stresses the importance of sustained measures to slow
the spread of COVID-19. He reminds us, “The virus will continue to mutate.
This is just a fact of viruses, you know, they do this. It is important to
note that one of the best things that we can do in terms of ensuring that our
vaccines remain effective is reducing case counts, because potentially every
single new case is an opportunity for the virus to pick up a mutation that is
beneficial.” The public is urged to continue wearing masks and socially
distancing to prevent future viral mutations.

For more information on this story, please see:

* CARC’s [previous story](researchers-study-covid-19.md) featuring Domman and
  Dinwiddie’s work
* The
  [article](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/14/health/coronavirus-variants-evolution.html){target=_blank}
  from The New York Times
* The SPHERES [press
  release](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0501-SARS-CoV-2-transmission-map.html){target=_blank}
  from the CDC
* The research article
  [preprint](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.12.21251658v1){target=_blank}

Photo courtesy of
[CDC](https://unsplash.com/@cdc?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText){target=_blank}
on
[Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/virus?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText){target=_blank}