The Role of Spike Protein Mutations in the Infectious Power of SARS‐COV‐2 Variants: A Molecular Interaction Perspective

The infectious power of several SARS‐COV‐2 variants, commonly described by R0, are rationalized under a molecular interaction perspective using molecular dynamics simulations, quantum mechanical descriptors of the nature of bonding interactions, and calculated spectral features of the specific mutations in the spike protein and the interactions of the replaced residues with the ACE2 receptor. More information can be found in the Full Paper by C. Cappelli, A. Restrepo et al.