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DNA from Neanderthals influences the course of Covid-19

2021-03-29T15:13:59.327Z


A new study has shown that certain Neanderthal genes can mitigate the course of Covid-19. A new study has shown that certain Neanderthal genes can mitigate the course of Covid-19. Leipzig - Genes play an immense role in our lives. They influence our appearance, our personality traits, or when and whether we suffer from certain diseases. A gene is a small section of our DNA - it carries the genetic information and is organized in chromosomes. A study has now shown that a group of genes


A new study has shown that certain Neanderthal genes can mitigate the course of Covid-19.

Leipzig - Genes play an immense role in our lives.

They influence our appearance, our personality traits, or when and whether we suffer from certain diseases.

A gene is a small section of our DNA - it carries the genetic information and is organized in chromosomes.

A study has now shown that a group of genes are associated with severe courses of Covid 19 disease (* FNP reported).

As the Max Planck Institute announced, the researchers Hugo Zeberg and Svante Pääbo first found out that the DNA sequence, which is associated with an increased risk of severe Covid-19 courses, the DNA sequences of about 50,000 years resembles ancient Neanderthals from Croatia.

"It turns out that modern humans inherited this gene variant from the Neanderthals when they intermingled about 60,000 years ago," Zeberg said.

"The probability that people who have inherited this gene variant will have to be artificially ventilated when infected with the new coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 is about three times higher."

Neanderthal genes: 20 percent less severe Covid-19 courses

In their latest study, however, the researchers came to a different conclusion.

Together with neuroscientist Hugo Zeberg from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, they found that half of all people outside Africa have inherited a gene group that reduces the risk of severe Covid-10 courses - namely by more than 20 percent.

This group of genes also comes from the Neanderthals *.

The researchers have published their full results in the journal 

“Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”

 (PNAS).

"The increase in the frequency of this protective Neanderthal variant suggests that it could also have been beneficial in the past, perhaps with other outbreaks of disease caused by RNA viruses," says Pääbo.

The researchers found that Homo sapiens and Homo neandertalensis lived together and produced offspring.

Primarily Homo sapiens benefited from the gene exchange, whereby the genes affect the immune system.

* FNP

is an offer from IPPEN.Media.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-03-29

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