COVID CLUE

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have discovered key human genomic signatures that could help explain why COVID-19 is severe in some people and mild in others. After analysing volumes of worldwide DNA sequence data, the scientists identified variants in the genes ACE2 and TMPRESS2 that can lead to an increase or decrease in protein expression. An increase in protein expression might result in elevated COVID-19 susceptibility and severity, while a decrease might have a protective effect against the virus. “These results can now be applied to DNA sequence data for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 to potentially determine the degree of susceptibility to the disease,” says lead author Dr Lingxin Zhang.