New study finds gene linked to severe Covid infection

In a new study, the researchers seem to have identified the gene linked to severe Covid infection. The study was published in Nature Genetics.

The researchers from the University of Oxford found that it is LZTFL1 that is involved in higher severity disease and not SLC6A20.

Around 60 per cent of the people belonging to South Asian heritage carry the higher-risk version of the gene compared to 15 per cent in white people and only two per cent of people fromAfrican or Afro-Caribbean heritage.

This gene is also very active in the layer of cells lining the airways and lungs.

The high-risk variant of the gene reduces the ability of cells in the lungs to repair damaged tissue and replace lost cells, which may be needed to overcome severe disease, showed the study.

This variant also makes cells that have more copies of the two proteins, which are called ACE2 and TMPRSS2, that allows the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter cells and infect them. It means is that people who carry this high-risk gene variant, are likely to end up having more cells infected, less ability to heal and as a result, have a severe infection.

(With inputs from agencies)