While researchers continue to study the coronavirus to better understand it and find treatments for this pandemic, scientists have found a gene that can reduce the severity and symptoms of COVID-19 by 20%. This discovery also explains why some individuals experience symptoms more intensely than others. The researchers indicated that this gene will assist in the development of effective drugs against the virus.
The study published in Nature Genetics, as reported by the Daily Mail, confirms that this gene clarifies the significant variation in disease symptoms, impacting some individuals more forcefully than others.
The study explains that the gene instructs the body to produce a protein that effectively breaks down the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. This gene is present in one out of every three people of European descent and in eight out of ten people in Africa, according to researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. The gene determines the length of the OAS-1 protein, and longer proteins are more effective at dismantling SARS-CoV-2.
Co-author of the study, Brent Richards from McGill University, stated, "We are beginning to understand genetic risk factors in detail, which is key to developing new drugs against COVID-19."
Additionally, Polish scientists discovered a gene they believe doubles the risk of developing severe symptoms from a COVID-19 infection. They hope this will help doctors identify individuals who are most at risk if they contract the disease. Researchers from the University of Bialystok found that this gene is the fourth most important factor in determining the severity of a person's COVID-19 infection, after age, weight, and sex.
