Dementia gene ‘doubles risk’ of contracting virus

A faulty gene linked to dementia doubles the risk of developing coronavirus, a new study has suggested. Researchers linked the fault, found in people of European ancestry, to a greater risk of the virus even when they were had not developed dementia. The finding that people may be genetically predisposed to suffer from Covid-19 heralds the prospect of one day developing a genetic treatment that helps patients to overcome the infection. It could also be ameans ofmore accurately identifying very high risk people who need to be shielded from the threat of the disease.