While concealment, social distancing, and vaccination as soon as possible are good ways to reduce the chance of contracting COVID, new research suggests that there is a specific genetic factor that can reduce the risk of developing more severe COVID symptoms can. According to a new study by researchers at the Graduate University of Science and Technology’s Okinawa Institute, a special DNA marker can protect a person from the severe COVID case that requires hospitalization. Read on to find out what the researchers found and how it might affect you. And if you want to protect yourself, know that if you put layers of these masks in place, the CDC will terminate immediately.
A volume will be published in the new study, which will be published in March 2021 PNASResearchers have found that a certain set of Neanderthal genes – especially those that affect chromosome 12 – that are still present in people today may contribute to a person’s risk of developing COVID disease that requires intensive care to lower it by 22 percent.
“Although Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago, their immune systems still have positive and negative effects on us today,” said the geneticist and co-author of the study. Svante Papu, Ph.D., stated in a statement. Sign up for our daily newsletter to have the latest COVID news delivered straight to your inbox.
The study’s authors discovered that a specific genetic variant carried by Neanderthal DNA could reduce the severity of COVID through a specific mechanism. This specific genetic factor, identified in three Neanderthals with a color scale ranging from 50,000 to 120,000 years, stimulates the production of enzymes to fight viruses in the human body. “The enzymes encoded by the Neanderthal variant appear to be more effective, reducing the likelihood of serious consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Papu said. If you want to be safe outdoors, be aware that the CDC has issued a warning about this type of face mask.
The study researchers found that the genetic variant is common in most parts of the world. “It is present in populations in Eurasia and America with carrier frequencies that often reach and exceed 50 percent,” said the author PNAS a study.
In Japan, around 30 percent of people carry the genetic trait, while study researchers found it “almost entirely absent” in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information on what could protect you from severe COVID, check out this popular drug that can reduce the risk of dying from COVID, the study says.
While the identified Neanderthal DNA variant provides some protection for those who suffer from it, it does not necessarily eliminate other risk factors for developing severe COVID. “Of course, there are other factors, such as advanced age or underlying diseases like diabetes, that have a huge impact on the extent of the person’s illness,” said Babu. “But genetic factors also play an important role, and Neanderthals have contributed some of those factors these days.” And when you have your vaccination appointment, you will know the CDC is warning you not to do so immediately before your vaccination.
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