Scientists who sifted through the genetic data of nearly 50,000 COVID-19 patients have discovered 13 key locations among the human genome's 3 billion base pairs that may influence a person's susceptibility to a coronavirus infection or their risk of developing a severe illness.
The findings, published Thursday in the journal Nature, could help researchers design or repurpose treatments for COVID-19.
The research "shows clearly that it is possible to quickly do a human genomic study of infectious disease and find useful, medically relevant results," said Samira Asgari, a statistical geneticist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who was not involved in the work.
One of the coronavirus' distinctive characteristics is its ability to trigger severe disease in some people and practically no symptoms at all in others. It's become clear that many environmental and biological factors play a role — for example, a person's age and socioeconomic status, their history of diabetes or heart disease, and whether they smoke.
"But even when those things are accounted for, a lot of times we still see differences in outcome," Asgari said.
Our DNA may provide at least a partial explanation.
Scientists know that genetic variation can influence the severity of other infectious diseases. In some cases, rare mutations can mean the difference between mild symptoms and serious illness. Other, more common genetic variations can have a more moderate effect on disease severity.
The effects of genetic variation are typically pretty small when weighed against factors such as age or access to health care. This means that researchers would have to put together studies with tens of thousands of participants — if not more — whose characteristics are well-known in order to detect a subtle genetic link.
