The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has now entered its third year. Since its inception, it has infected people differently — while some witness severe disease, others are grazed by milder symptoms. Why is that? A new study published in Nature Genetics has argued that a gene variant is what provides protection against severe disease.
“The protective Neanderthal-derived haplotype confers approximately 23 per cent reduced risk of becoming critically ill on infection with SARS-CoV-2,” the study said.
The study said it was this gene that alerted the body to produce proteins that would help break down the SARS-CoV-2 virus. If the protein was longer — a characteristic determined by the gene — it had greater chances of breaking down the virus that caused COVID-19.
“That we are beginning to understand the genetic risk factors in detail is key to developing new drugs against COVID-19,” co-author Brent Richards, of McGill University was quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.
But how was this gene identified? Studies in the past on people with European ancestry have revealed the presence of a certain DNA sequence that reduces risk of severe COVID-19 disease by 20 per cent. According to the study, this gene is inherited from Neanderthals.
