Authors' Reply to: Errors in Tracing Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Using a Maximum Likelihood Tree. Comment on “A Snapshot of SARS-CoV-2 Genome Availability up to April 2020 and its Implications: Data Analysis”

Deciphering the evolutionary mechanisms of SARS‐CoV‐2: Absence of ORF8 protein and its potential advantage in the emergence of viral lineages

“…At the start of the pandemic, the evolutionary patterns of SARS-CoV-2 and the potential role of natural selection in the emergence of new lineages was heavily debated. 2 However, now several years into the pandemic, it is evident that SARS-CoV-2 has a tremendous ability to continuously evolve into new lineages with increased viral fitness. 3 Over the course of the pandemic, more than 1300 lineages have been identified under the Pango lineage classification.…”