Dr Charles Foster

It's rewarding to have the work out in the public after such a long process. I hope it's of interest, and feel free to reach out to discuss. 4/4

We were able to study the evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro for the greatest number of passages to date – up to 100 serial passages for one lineage. These types of observational, longer term studies are difficult to conduct in modern times with the pressures to publish ASAP. 3/4

This was a long and challenging project that started in early 2020 and involved the collaboration of many people over ~5 years. Long story short, we carried a bunch of SARS-CoV-2 lineages through serial passaging to observe convergent evolution both among passage lines and with the "real world". 2/4

The virus that won’t quit: new research reveals how SARS-CoV-2 evolves Researchers have tracked how the COVID-19 virus mutates long-term, revealing patterns that could help predict the emergence of future variants.

Yesterday our study into the evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro was published (open access) in the Journal of Virology: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/.... A further write-up describing the work is available here: www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/new... 1/4 🧬 🖥️