The Omicron coronavirus variant might be less severe in humans because it attacks human lung cells in a different way, according to two laboratory studies published recently.

A group of 31 scientists from different universities collaborated on the project for the first study. The second study was authored by 34 scientists from Scottish and English institutes. Both studies were published in preprint form, which means they have yet to be reviewed by other scientists.

The researchers said that Omicron’s numerous mutations appear to have completely changed how it replicates itself in the body.

Omicron “is actually doing its own thing in many ways,” Ravindra Gupta, a leading variant researcher from Cambridge University and an author on the first study, told Insider…read more.