Talk:Strain (biology)

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Race[edit]

I don't think the race section is really relevant, as it is talking in regards to subspecies not strain. Also, could anyone clarify the difference between the biological terms of race and strain? Thanks -Zynwyx (talk) 12:37, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It isn't even correct. Whoever wrote it didn't reference, and didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Different Species can't generally interbreed and create offspring which are themselves fertile, though it can happen (see Panthera hybrid), but the same is definitely not true of Subspecies which is a subset within a species.

"Organisms that belong to different subspecies of the same species are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, but they often do not interbreed in nature due to geographic isolation or other factors. The differences between subspecies are usually less distinct than the differences between species. The characteristics attributed to subspecies generally have evolved as a result of geographical distribution or isolation."

It is patently false, unreferenced and it doesn't even belong here. I'm surprised it lasted this long. It should be deleted. --DireEvangelist (talk) 00:36, 4 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I completely agree and have removed it - it was badly written, mostly incorrect and off-topic. 130.237.191.205 (talk) 15:43, 29 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Is "strain" a social concept and should we write this in the first sentence?[edit]

See discussion on Talk:Race_(biology) Captain JT Verity MBA (talk) 14:25, 16 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It is a technical term used by biologists, and to put that in the first sentence would be distracting to those who really want to know what it means in communication among biologists. "Blue" is a social construct, but we don't write that in the first sentence of a page about the colour. Sminthopsis84 (talk) 19:48, 18 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

strain vs variant[edit]

Recently and rather old quote from 2012 has been inserted into the article that confuses more than clarifies: "It has been said that "there is no universally accepted definition for the terms 'strain', 'variant', and 'isolate' in the virology community, and most virologists simply copy the usage of terms from others".[2]" Whereas the "it" in it has been said is not qualified, like "somebody told me he has heard something and I share his Opinion.". No scientific arguments where given.

COVID-19: Here's the difference between a variant and a strain is a bit more specific: “A new strain would cause much bigger concern around all the hard work that has been achieved up until now. Essentially, we would be set back to zero and we would be dealing with a new strain of virus circulating around the world. But, that’s not the case. This is a variant and it has some genetic changes. It represents viral evolution.” that gives us a hint, even though is is bad wording, because he should have said: "... Essentially, we would be set back to zero if we would be dealing with a new strain..."

— "Covid: New strain, variant or mutation? What’s the difference?" "At a briefing organised by the UK’s Science Media Centre on Tuesday, Prof Tom Connor of the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University explained: “There is one strain of [SARS-CoV-2]. That is SARS-CoV-2. That is the single strain, and there are variants of that strain. These are variants.” Prof Connor said the term strain is often misused." This might be authoritative, because he is "Prof. of the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University" but it is not really explaining his opinion scientifically. He might be able to, but he did not. --Manorainjan 15:43, 25 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]