Mutant metaphors: in the era of COVID-19.

Since its debut, Mary Shelley's has, fittingly, assumed a life of its own. In today's cultural landscape, the mere mention of 'mutant' evokes the language of Othering, including Frankensteinian metaphors, such as those used to describe the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. When scientists referred to omicron as a Frankenstein variant, they demonstrated the inherent mutability of the myth-a myth that is crucial in biomedicine.