How sick will the coronavirus make you? The answer may be in your genes

[George K]

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/how-sick-will-coronavirus-make-you-answer-may-be-your-genes?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=f5bd2d5c8e-briefing-dy-20200330&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-f5bd2d5c8e-42575255#

COVID-19, caused by the new pandemic coronavirus, is strangely—and tragically—selective. Only some infected people get sick, and although most of the critically ill are elderly or have complicating problems such as heart disease, some killed by the disease are previously healthy and even relatively young. Researchers are now gearing up to scour the patients’ genomes for DNA variations that explain this mystery. The findings could be used to identify those most at risk of serious illness and those who might be protected, and they might also guide the search for new treatments.

The projects range from ongoing studies with DNA for many thousands of participants, some now getting infected with the coronavirus, to new efforts that are collecting DNA from COVID-19 patients in hard-hit places such as Italy. The goal is to compare the DNA of people who have serious cases of COVID-19 (which stands for coronavirus disease 2019)—but no underlying disease like diabetes, heart or lung disease—with those with mild or no disease. “We see huge differences in clinical outcomes and across countries. How much of that is explained by genetic susceptibility is a very open question,” says geneticist Andrea Ganna of the University of Helsinki’s Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM).

[LuFins Dad]

There’s an underlying reason somewhere. Just because we don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

[mark]

I have genes from Italy, Greece, Germany, Ireland, & Wales.

Maybe being a #euromutt will save me! lol

[Aqua Letifer]

Nah, if it is genetic, my bet is that it's going to be some random-ass thing.

[LuFins Dad]

Germans...Turned out Hitler knew something after all...

[Klaus]

I find it hard to believe that there's a genetic difference between, say, France and Germany that explains different mortality rates etc. Environmental factors, different ways to collect data etc. sound more plausible to me.

[Mik]

Yeah, Klaus... it sounds like someone's theory when it may just be luck of the draw and how much virus you picked up.

[jon-nyc]

I’ve been saying for a month I can’t wait for the GWAS studies on the infected.

[Copper]

This event will receive so much examination for years.

There will be constant revelations about people who got surprisingly sick and those who surprisingly did not.

We'll learn a lot in the process.