Specific gene variant that protects against severe Covid identified

London, January 17

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Researchers have identified a specific gene variant that protects against severe Covid infection.

An international team led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden pinpointed the variant by studying people of different ancestries. The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, shows genes can influence whether we become severely affected or only suffer mild illness from Covid.

Previous studies on mainly people of European ancestry have found that individuals carrying a particular segment of DNA have a 20 per cent lower risk of developing a critical Covid infection. This DNA segment encodes genes in the immune system, and is inherited from Neanderthals in about half of all people outside Africa, the researchers said.

However, this region of DNA is packed with numerous genetic variants, which makes it challenging to disentangle the exact protective variant, they said.

Identifying this variant could potentially serve as a target for medical treatment against severe Covid infection, according to the researchers. —