211:(WHO's COVID-19 Technical Leader), Krutika Kuppalli (member of WHO's COVID-19 Technical Team) and Thomas Peacock, a postdoctoral fellow (Imperial College London) challenged this announcement, saying a lab mistake was a more probable explanation for Cyprus lab's finding, although they did not provide any experimental data refuting the finding. Initially, some journalists have argued, without providing any experimental data, that it is most likely the result of a lab contamination, which purportedly shares specific properties with two different strains. Kostrikis' team has published a peer-reviewed study, providing experimental data that confirms the original observation about Deltacron was correct. Additionally, substantial scientific evidence has been produced since then, supporting the existence of Deltacron (Delta-Omicron) viruses, characterized by Delta (AY.4, AY.x) and Omicron (BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2, BA.x) variants, which have been identified and verified by various laboratories around the world
181:. In 2019, he was elected as a Founding Member (Biological Sciences) of The Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts and in 2020, he was elected as Member of the Biosciences Steering Panel of the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) and as a Distinguished Fellow of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI). In 2020, he received the Cyprus Distinguished Researcher Award in Life Sciences from the Research and Innovation Foundation in Cyprus. In 2024, he was elected as a Member of
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Chrysostomou, Andreas C.; Vrancken, Bram; Haralambous, Christos; Alexandrou, Maria; Gregoriou, Ioanna; Ioannides, Marios; Ioannou, Costakis; Kalakouta, Olga; Karagiannis, Christos; Marcou, Markella; Masia, Christina; Mendris, Michail; Papastergiou, Panagiotis; Patsalis, Philippos C.; Pieridou, Despo
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strains. The emergence of this phenomenon initially evoked scepticism, characterized by concerns primarily centered around contamination or coinfection as plausible etiological contributors. These hypotheses were predominantly disseminated through unsubstantiated assertions within the realms of
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social and mass media, lacking concurrent scientific evidence to validate their claims. Comparable observations on a global scale dispelled doubt, eventually leading to the recognition of Delta-Omicron variants by the scientific community and their subsequent monitoring by the
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had found a new COVID-19 variant dubbing it "Deltacron". Following the initial announcement, indiscriminate news of the COVID-19 hybrid variant dubbed "Deltacron" spread quickly in mainstream media.
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542:"Unraveling the Dynamics of Omicron (BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5) Waves and Emergence of the Deltacton Variant: Genomic Epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic in Cyprus (Oct 2021-Oct 2022)"
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177:. In 2003, he returned to Cyprus. He became Head of Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology and Professor of Molecular Virology at the
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https://journals.lww.com/annals-of-medicine-and-surgery/fulltext/2022/07000/deltacron_is_a_recombinant_variant_of_sars_cov_2.104.aspx
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Fulbright
Scholar, Member of Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts, Member of Academia Europaea
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486:"Variant that combines Delta and Omicron identified; dogs sniff out virus with high accuracy"
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200:, Kostrikis announced in January 2022 in local TV that his Cypriot health research team in
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Kostrikis was born in Cyprus. He received his scientific education in
Biochemistry from
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318:"New 'Deltacron' Covid-19 Coronavirus Variant Is A Recombinant Of Delta And Omicron"
124:. In 2022, he attracted media attention with the news of having found a "Deltacron"
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The identification and phylogenetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 delta variants in Taiwan
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Incipient
Parallel Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Deltacron Variant in South Brazil
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346:"There may be a new COVID variant, Deltacron. Here's what we know about it"
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Role of human genetics in HIV-1 transmission and AIDS disease progression
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402:"New 'Deltacron' Variant Is Rare and Similar to Omicron, Experts Say"
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271:"Supervariante Deltakron gibt es nicht – Fehler durch Kontamination"
374:"'Deltacron': Should we worry about new COVID-19 variants merging?"
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514:"Experten halten angeblichen "Demikron"-Nachweis für Laborfehler"
290:"Cyprus Finds Covid-19 Infections That Combine Delta and Omicron"
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Translation: Experts say the "Demikron" finding is a lab mistake
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research. In 1999, he was appointed
Assistant Professor of
157:. In 1993, he received his Ph.D. from the same university
153:. In 1987, he received his B.Sc. degree, supported by a
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9008264/
108:(born April 20, 1963) is a molecular virologist from
269:Dr. Christian Kretschmer (Arzt) (31 January 2022).
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430:"Deltacron: the story of the variant that wasn't"
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187:Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
112:and a professor of molecular virology at the
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118:Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts
628:Academic staff of the University of Cyprus
167:Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ADARC)
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288:Georgiou, Georgios (January 8, 2022).
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512:Gubernator, Sebastian (2022-01-10).
192:SARS-CoV-2 Deltacron hybrid variant
603:Google Scholar: Leondios Kostrikis
428:Kreier, Freda (January 21, 2022).
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116:. He is a founding member of the
316:Lee, Bruce Y. (March 12, 2022).
400:Zimmer, Carl (March 11, 2022).
372:Khan, Amir (January 17, 2022).
344:Snider, Mike (March 10, 2022).
128:variant, a recombinant between
484:Lapid, Nancy (March 9, 2022).
250:"Leondios G. Kostrikis, Ph.D."
16:Cypriot biochemist (born 1963)
1:
196:Following the emergence of
185:(Academy of Europe) in the
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623:New York University alumni
456:10.1038/d41586-022-00149-9
139:World Health Organization
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638:21st-century biochemists
198:COVID-19 Omicron variant
145:Early life and education
175:Rockefeller University
183:The Academia Europaea
155:Fulbright Scholarship
106:Leondios G. Kostrikis
23:Leondios G. Kostrikis
179:University of Cyprus
114:University of Cyprus
94:University of Cyprus
448:2022Natur.602...19K
151:New York University
633:Cypriot scientists
407:The New York Times
209:Maria Van Kerkhove
85:Molecular Virology
559:10.3390/v15091933
122:Academia Europaea
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165:He moved to
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90:Institutions
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643:1963 births
552:(9): 1933.
275:Gelbe Liste
126:Coronavirus
51:Nationality
612:Categories
524:2022-01-11
379:Al Jazeera
255:2022-01-11
253:Retrieved
229:References
35:1963-04-20
568:1999-4915
497:March 14,
469:March 14,
413:March 14,
385:March 14,
357:March 14,
351:USA Today
329:March 14,
301:March 14,
586:37766339
577:10535466
518:Die Welt
464:35058630
546:Viruses
491:Reuters
444:Bibcode
202:Nicosia
134:Omicron
54:Cypriot
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435:Nature
323:Forbes
169:to do
161:Career
110:Cyprus
82:Fields
67:Awards
171:HIV-1
130:Delta
582:PMID
564:ISSN
499:2022
471:2022
460:PMID
415:2022
387:2022
359:2022
331:2022
303:2022
132:and
29:Born
572:PMC
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