Could genetics explain why some COVID-19 patients fare worse than others?
22 Apr, 2020Certain genetic differences might separate people who fall severely ill with COVID-19 from those who contract the infection but hardly develop a cough, a new preliminary study suggests.
The research is still in its early days, though, experts say.
The immune system can react to viruses thanks, in part, to specific genes that help cells spot unfamiliar bugs when they enter the body. The genes, known as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, contain instructions to build proteins that bind to bits of a pathogen; those proteins serve as warning flags to alert immune cells. The immune cells, once trained to recognize these bits, jumpstart the process of building antibodies to target and destroy the invasive germ.
Within each individual, HLA genes code for three different classes of proteins; in other words, HLAs come in a variety of flavors, and depending on which HLAs you have, your body may be better or worse equipped to fight off certain germs — including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
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