Neandertal gene variants influence progression of COVID-19
2021
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden(1)
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany(2)
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany(2)
The authors show that a haplotype on chromosome 12, which is associated with a ∼22% reduction in relative risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19 when infected by SARS-CoV-2, is inherited from Neandertals. This haplotype is present at substantial frequencies in all regions of the world outside Africa. The genomic region where this haplotype occurs encodes proteins that are important during infections with RNA viruses.
A genomic region associated with protection against severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neandertals
Hugo Zeberg(1), Svante Pääbo(2)
Added on: 05-11-2021
[1] https://www.pnas.org/content/118/9/e2026309118[2] https://www.bionity.com/en/news/1169930/neandertal-gene-variants-and-covid-19.html
