What Makes COVID Affect People Differently?

July 9, 2021

A study published yesterday in Nature, called Mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19, suggests that genetics may be the answer.

This is the biggest single genetic study in history looking at how the variances in DNA amongst individuals around the world respond differently to a virus. Researchers were able to identify and confirm 13 genes that seem to play a part in determining susceptibility to becoming infected as well as the severity of the infection. Some genes, particularly ones involved with lung-related phenotypes or autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, directly correlated with common coronavirus symptoms; other genes will require more investigation. Researchers are also hoping to use this information to investigate why some individuals develop long COVID while others don’t.