Researchers are racing to determine whether a highly mutated coronavirus variant that has popped up on three continents will be of global concern — or whether the fuss will turn out to be much ado about nothing. Several laboratories detected the variant last week, and it has been named BA.2.86. Although it seems to be rare, it is very different from other circulating variants and carries numerous changes to its spike protein, which is key to the body’s immune attack on the SARS-CoV-2 virus...

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