Darwinism, COVID-19 and human beings

Dr.Aishwarya Preman 

2020 has apparently become a year to demonstrate “Darwinism” or one of the most vital Darwinian theory “The survival of the fittest”,phrased by Herbert Spencer as an alternative to the term “Natural Selection” whether it be in micro(virus) or in macro(human beings).

As a result of the gene sequencing study in Kerala conducted by the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research with the help of the patients admitted in Kozhikode Medical College, among the sub types of Sars Cov-2 the A2a clad was picked out as the fittest which was the subtype that devastatingly invaded Europe and America.

A specific mutation in its spike gene made it most powerful. This mutation transpired at the 614th amino acid position of the spike protein in which one type of amino acid (aspartic acid – D614) is converted into another one (glycine – G614) and hence the name D614G. D614G, by causing this amino acid alteration, permits the spikes on the surface of the virus to conceive the best possible grip on an enzyme found on the surface of lung cells.

This brings Darwinism in COVID 19 into limelight because exactly like in Darwinian hypothesis this group being terrifically infectious than any other group, could spread proficiently producing more and more copies or replicas.

Although in Darwainian terms fittest meant survival of the form which will leave most copies of itself in successive generations, when it comes to human beings in this era of pandemic, Darwinism has been manifested in another dimension in which fittest is the one who can survive through all the rugged and resilient scrutiny that is transpiring one by one caused by a tiny 60nm organism.

So let us adulterate this Darwinism with optimism, try to become the fittest, prohibit and forbid COVID-19 to manifest the theory of natural selection and succeed in making the people around us and everyone across the globe the fittest, stay indestructible in dusk and dawn and just wait for this violent storm to pass.