Neanderthal gene variant increases risk of severe COVID-19
Researchers in Germany have conducted a study showing that between 2 and 8% of people in Eurasia carry a genetic variant inherited from Neanderthals that significantly increases the risk of becoming critically ill with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The variant occurs in the promoter region of a gene called DPP4. This gene codes for the host cell receptor for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – the agent responsible for various outbreaks of respiratory illness in several countries since its discovery in 2012.
Scientists are currently uncertain whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes COVID-19 – can also bind to DPP4.
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This summer, a small group of researchers at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, began to notice something unusual. They were looking at the DNA of thousands of people who had contracted Covid-19 and suffered severely – people who were touch-and-go in intensive care units, some who survived and some who didn’t.
The researchers were comparing these genetic profiles to those of people with similar backgrounds held in the UK BioBank, which holds information on half a million volunteers. The aim was to see if anything stood out in those who had been brought to the brink by Covid.