Who would have thought it? A genetic variant inherited from Neanderthal man could help reduce the risk of suffering from severe forms of COVID-19, a new study by Japanese researchers reveals. Although transmitted nearly 60,000 years ago, this variant may have played a factor in reducing the number of hospitalizations.
Imagine the scene. Almost 60,000 years ago, a genetic variant was passed on to humans—us!—by crossbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans. And today, in the midst of a pandemic, researchers are finding that this same variant may have played a role in circumscribing the numbers—to a certain extent—of those suffering from severe forms of Covid-19. Sounds like science fiction? Perhaps, but it's a real discovery.
Researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), in collaboration with German scientists, have made this surprising discovery: a group of genes, which would reduce the risk of a person becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 by about 20 per cent, is inherited from the Neanderthals. In their study, the researchers specify that these genes are located on chromosome 12 and that they code for enzymes that play a crucial role in helping cells destroy the genomes of invading viruses—and thus of SARS-CoV-2.
