Viral escape from extinction: Mutagenic drugs face potential adaptation challenges
Mutagenic drugs can help treat RNA virus infections by increasing the virus's mutation rate, which can lead to its extinction. However, viruses can escape these effects through beneficial mutations, evolving resistance to the drug, or changing the impact of mutations. Successful adaptations need to happen early to save the population from extinction. The randomness of these adaptations makes it hard to predict their outcome in experiments, which could pose risks when using mutagenic treatments.