A medical and scientific team led by Newcastle University, UK, has found that the gene, HLA-DRB1*04:01, is found three times high in asymptomatic people. This means that people with these genes have some level of protection from severe Covid. Innovate the UK funded the study compared asymptomatic people to patients who developed severe Covid from the same community but had no underlying illnesses. This is published in the HLA journal.
The research team believed that this is the 1st clear evidence of genetic resistance because this compared asymptomatic people with severely affected people Covid group and next-generation sequencing were used in scale on the HLA genes and to focus on detail on chromosome 6, which are packed together.
Satellite image could be linked with Genome-wide studies. The highest complexity and density of the histocompatibility complex and variation in different populations means significant variation can be overlooked. The HLA-DRB1*04:01 human leukocyte antigen gene identified is known to be directly correlated to latitude and longitude. This means more people in the West and North of Europe are likely to have this gene. This also means the population of European descent will be more likely to remain asymptomatic, but susceptible populations still transmit the disease.
From the Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University Trust Dr. Carlos Echevarria, who is also a co-author of the paper, says: “This is an important finding as it may explain why some people catch Covid but don’t get sick. “It could lead us to a genetic test which may indicate who we need to prioritize for future vaccinations.” He further said that it is essential to know at the population level because lots of people are there who are resistant, so they catch Covid but don’t have symptoms, and then they risk spreading the virus.
It is an accepted scientific concept the effect of genes being linked to geolocation. It is well known that over generations, HLA genes develop in reaction to disease-causing pathogens.
