Link between COVID-19 and genetic variations examined
An international collaboration between biobanks has challenged a previous finding on a potential genetic basis for COVID-19 severity
Research must use rigorous study design principles and properly control for ancestry differences as these greatly impact the frequency of gene variants.
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December 2021
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n October 2020, a large, multinational research study led by Qian Zhang, of New York’s Rockefeller University, showed that some severe COVID-19 cases could be explained by hereditary mutations in genes that modulate important immune system pathways. Another large collaboration which used data from four independent COVID-19 biobanks from across the world sought to replicate these findings, but found that the original study’s results did not hold up. The new analysis found no link between severe COVID-19 and
mutations in the genes identified in the earlier study. Type I IFNs are polypeptides secreted by infected cells that modulate different elements of immunity. Inherited mutations in genes encoding proteins or polypeptides, such as those involved in type I IFN immunity, can result in non-functional proteins. In their study, Zhang et al. identified 13 variations in type I IFN-related genes that were predicted to cause a loss of function, and they assessed that as many as 3.5% of severe COVID-19 cases could be associated with changes in these 13 genes.
