A worldwide study has found an evidence of a new form of the coronavirus that spreads and infect people faster, but it doesn't seem to have a more severe impact.

An international team of researchers reported on Thursday that the study was published in the journal Cell.

Erica Ollmann Saphire of La Jolla Institute for Immunology, who worked on the virus, called the new variant "the dominant form infecting people." Researchers named the new mutation G614. This is an almost completely different version of D614 that first spread in Europe and the United States.

"Our global tracking data show that the G614 variant in Spike has spread faster than D614," said study author Bette Korber from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

David Montefiore of Duke University added, in a report from CNN, that the new G614 mutation is three to six times more infectious than the previous form, saying the new version of the virus had a "fitness advantage" in terms of infectivity.

White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci cited the report on Thursday, saying that research is underway to confirm the possible mutation and its implications. Fauci added that "there's a little dispute about it," the CNBC reported.

In an interview with the American Medical Association's Dr. Howard Bauchner, Fauci said a single mutation made the virus able to replicate better and have higher viral loads. He added that there isn't any connection as to whether an individual will suffer from worse symptoms with the mutation.

"It just seems that the virus replicates better and may be more transmissible," he said.

The researchers noted that the increase in G614 continues even after stay-at-home orders are in place and the two-week incubation period had passed, but some areas still have the D614, never replaced by the newer variant.

The team of researchers ran experiments involving people, animals, and cells in lab dishes, showing that the mutation is more common and more infectious than other versions of coronavirus.

The mutation affected the spike protein that helps the virus get into the cells it infects. Researchers are checking to see if this will affect the chances of vaccines to control the virus. Current experiments on vaccines target the spike protein, but older strains were used in testing then.

The study found that the new version appears to multiply faster in the upper respiratory tract-throat, sinuses, and the nose, explaining why it can be passed from person to person more easily, Korber said in a report from ABC Action News.

Global researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) have been tracking over 60,000 different genetic sequences of the coronavirus from samples all over the world.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses like the coronavirus naturally mutate throughout their lifespan, with RNAs spreading more quickly than some other viruses. Unlike human DNA, RNA viruses cannot naturally correct itself.

WHO said some mutations do not lead to great changes in the impact of the virus. Nonetheless, it continues to gather comprehensive data to investigate potential mutations.

The full findings of the worldwide research can be found here. 

Want to read more? Check out these related articles!