While masking, social detachment and vaccination as soon as possible are good ways to decrease the risk of contracting COVID, new research suggests that there is another factor that can mitigate the risk of developing more severe symptoms of COVID. According to a study by researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology at Okinawa Graduate University, to be published in the March 2021 volume of PNAS, a particular DNA marker can keep a person safe from a COVID case that deserves hospitalization. Read on to find out what researchers have found and how it can affect you. And if you want to protect yourself, Dr. Fauci says that this is one of the worst things you can do now.
In the Okinawa study, the researchers found that a particular group of Neanderthal genes – specifically those that affect chromosome 12 – that still exist in individuals today can help reduce a person’s risk of having a COVID case that requires intensive treatment in 22 Percent.
“Although Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago, their immune system still influences us in positive and negative ways today,” explained the geneticist and co-author of the study Svante Pääbo, PhD, in a statement. And for the latest news from COVID, subscribe to our daily newsletter.
The study authors found that the particular genetic variant transmitted from Neanderthal DNA was able to reduce the severity of COVID through a specific mechanism. This specific genetic factor – which has been identified in three Neanderthals between 50,000 and 120,000 years old – stimulates the production of enzymes that fight viruses in the human body.
“It appears that enzymes encoded by the Neanderthal variant are more efficient, reducing the chance of serious consequences for SARS-CoV-2 infections,” said Pääbo.
And if you want to be safe when you’re out and about, the CDC has just issued an alert about this type of face mask.
The study’s researchers found that the genetic variant is widespread in much of the world. “It is present in the populations of Eurasia and the Americas in carrier frequencies that frequently reach and exceed 50 percent”, according to the PNAS study. In Japan alone, about 30 percent of individuals carry the genetic trait, while the study’s researchers found that it is “almost completely absent” in sub-Saharan Africa. And if you made an appointment for the vaccine, the CDC is warning you not to do it right before you get vaccinated.
Although the identified Neanderthal DNA variant may offer some protection to those who have it, it does not necessarily cancel out other risk factors for the development of severe COVID.
“It is clear that other factors, such as old age or underlying conditions, such as diabetes, have a significant impact on the degree of illness of an infected individual,” explained Pääbo.