Following widespread infections of the most recent coronavirus known to infect humans, SARS‐CoV‐2, attention has turned to potential therapeutic options. With no drug or vaccine yet approved, one focal point of research is to evaluate the potential value of repurposing existing antiviral treatments, with the logical strategy being to identify at least a short‐term intervention to prevent within‐patient progression, while long‐term vaccine strategies unfold. Here, we offer an evolutionary/population‐genetic perspective on one approach that may overwhelm the capacity for pathogen defense (i.e., adaptation) – induced mutational meltdown – providing an overview of key concepts, review of previous theoretical and experimental work of relevance, and guidance for future research. Applied with appropriate care, including target specificity, induced mutational meltdown may provide a general, rapidly implemented approach for the within‐patient eradication of a wide range of pathogens or other undesirable microorganisms.

中文翻译：

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强加突变崩溃作为一种抗病毒策略

在已知会感染人类的​​最新冠状病毒 SARS-CoV-2 广泛感染之后，注意力已转向潜在的治疗选择。由于尚未批准任何药物或疫苗，研究的一个重点是评估重新利用现有抗病毒治疗的潜在价值，合理的策略是确定至少一种短期干预措施以防止患者内部进展，同时长期疫苗战略展开。在这里，我们提供了一种可能压倒病原体防御能力（​​即适应）的方法的进化/种群遗传学观点——诱导突变崩溃——提供关键概念的概述，回顾以前的相关理论和实验工作，以及对未来研究的指导。以适当的谨慎应用，包括目标特异性，