How South African scientists spotted the Omicron Covid variant

On Friday, Nov 19, Raquel Viana, Head of Science at one of South Africa's biggest private testing labs, sequenced the genes on eight coronavirus samples - and got the shock of her life.

The samples, tested in the Lancet laboratory, all bore a large number of mutations, especially on the spike protein that the virus uses to enter human cells.

"I was quite shocked at what I was seeing. I questioned whether something had...