Proteolytic control of the SARS-CoV-2 furin cleavage site defines the phenotypic evolution from the pandemic to endemic state
The successive emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with altered tissue tropism has progressively decoupled transmissibility from lower respiratory tract pathogenicity. Omicron lineages transmit exceptionally well whilst limiting severe lung disease. Here, we demonstrate that this phenotype has evolved through two temporal...