COVID-19 patients can help research via DNA testing sites
DNA testing companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe are using their expertise in the fight against COVID-19. Ancestry.com’s study is available only to its members, but 23andMe is asking past and present COVID-19 patients (customers or not) to take part in a study that will contribute to ongoing research on the new coronavirus.
23andMe asked existing customers in April if they would allow their DNA sample to be used for research aimed at determining if there are genetic factors affecting immune response to the virus. Then the company opened the study to include non-23andMe customers who had been hospitalized with COVID-19.
According to Adam Auton, principal scientist at 23andMe and lead researcher on the study, the testing company is hoping research will offer insight into differences in risk among individuals, and help academic and scientific communities in their efforts to treat the illness.
“When the pandemic was getting going, we here at 23andMe were beginning to think through what could we do to really try and help and contribute to the science and understanding of this disease,” he said. “Given that we have a very large cohort of people who have had their genomes genotyped, we really felt that we might be able to make an impact on the question of why do some people get very, very sick with a COVID infection whereas other people may have not even noticed that they had an infection at all? And given our expertise in genetics, we wanted to ask the question to what extent genetics plays a role in those outcomes.”
Auton said the response has been a positive one. He said hundreds of thousands of people already have completed the survey to participate in the genome study, and of those, over 9,000 individuals said they have tested positive for COVID-19. Auton is hoping more participants join the study to get a wider spectrum of coronavirus experiences. To join, individuals have to be over 18, live in the United States, be will