COVID-19 does not affect some people the same as others. In the months that have passed since the pandemic, we have learned a lot of information about the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but many unknowns still remain in the air. Regarding incidence, we know that it affects men in a greater proportion than women, due to a differentiated immune response between both sexes. Nor is immunity the same in children, adults and the elderly; And, of course, people with chronic diseases – such as cancer, diabetes, or respiratory diseases – or with a depressed immune system are more likely to suffer serious complications.
As well; This summer of 2020 an international macro-study has been carried out that has revealed a new risk factor for suffering serious damage from COVID-19; a variable that we cannot detect with the naked eye, because it is in our DNA. Those with a certain set of genes on chromosome 3 were at increased risk of hospitalization and respiratory failure after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
And what kind of genes are these? Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany have analyzed them and published their results: the group of genes that predisposes to serious complications from COVID-19 is very similar to the corresponding Neanderthal DNA sequences from 50,000 years ago, a native of Croatia.
“It turns out that modern humans inherited this genetic variant from Neanderthals when they interbred about 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. Today, people who inherited this genetic variant are three times more likely to need artificial ventilation if they are infected with the new coronavirus Sars-CoV-2, “reads a statement from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
What population has this variant?
The study also reveals considerable differences in the frequency with which this genetic risk variant occurs in different parts of the world. Specifically, it is particularly common among people in South Asia , where about half the population possesses this Neanderthal heritage.
In Europe, one in six people has the risk variant, while in Africa and East Asia it is almost non-existent.
However, the study does not provide an explanation for why this genetic variant confers an increased risk . “It is surprising that the genetic inheritance of Neanderthals has such tragic consequences during the current pandemic. Why this happens should be investigated as quickly as possible ”, according to Svante Pääbo, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
