Jul 06, 2020 12:55:00

Possibility that DNA inherited from Neanderthal people 60,000 years ago is related to 'severe severity of new coronavirus infection'

by

Erich Ferdinand

It is known that humans have inherited the DNA of Neanderthals who have been extinct between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. A study on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) newly suggested that the Neanderthal DNA of modern human beings had a deep relationship with the severity of COVID-19.

The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neandertals-2020.07.03.186296v1.full.pdf
(PDF file) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.03.186296v1.full.pdf

DNA Linked to Covid-19 Was Inherited From Neanderthals, Study Finds-The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/04/health/coronavirus-neanderthals.html

This time, it was the team of researchers, such as Hugo Zeberg, a neurologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, who discovered that Neanderthal DNA may be causing the severity of COVID-19. According to Zeberg, there has been a lot of research on the relationship between COVID-19 and DNA, among which 'the 9th and 3rd chromosomes are likely to be related to the severity of COVID-19. I knew that. Subsequent studies ruled out the effects of chromosome 9 and confirmed that 'some of the genes on chromosome 3 are associated with the exacerbation of COVID-19.'

In addition, the problematic DNA present on chromosome 3 was characterized by a 'gene sequence with a long length of about 490,000 base pairs and an unusually low mutation rate.' From this, Zeberg speculated that the DNA in question was 'provided by the Neanderthals or the Denisovans who diverged from the Neanderthals in the relatively new era of 40,000-60,000 years ago.'

So, Zeberg analyzed the DNA in question in detail and compared it with the DNA of the

fossil humans found so far, and among the Neanderthal DNA found in the Vindiya cave in Croatia, 33 samples contained the DNA of interest. I found out that On the other hand, the possibility that the DNA was derived from Denisovah was ruled out because it was not found in the Denisovah sample.

From this, the research team of Zeberg et al. concluded in a paper, 'It is clear that the DNA derived from Neanderthals has tragic consequences for the COVID-19 pandemic.' ..

So far, it has been known that DNA derived from Neanderthal people has a function of impairing the health of modern people and making it difficult for children to be born, but the DNA identified this time, at least in the past, has a beneficial function. It was possible that

Tony Kapra, a geneticist at Vanderbilt University, said, ``Neanderthal DNA may have been responsible for immunity to another virus that originally existed over 40,000 years ago.'' .. According to Kapla, when the human body develops COVID-19, the immune substance cytokines are secreted, attacking the tissues infected with the virus and suppressing the effects of the infection. However, if it works excessively, it will damage even normal lung tissue, resulting in severe COVID-19.

The mechanism by which cytokines cause the severity of COVID-19 is detailed in the following articles.

Why does new coronavirus infection become severe in only some people? -GIGAZINE

Zeberg checked the COVID-19 aggravating DNA against the database of the ' 1000 Genome Project, ' an international study on human genetic diversity, and found that people with the DNA in question live I also found that the regions are fairly biased. While people living in Africa do not have the DNA of Neanderthals regarding the severity of COVID-19 at all, about 8% of the people living in Europe and about 30% of the people living in South Asia had this DNA. ..

Among South Asia, Bangladesh has the most extreme DNA retention rate, with about 63% of the total population having this DNA. In fact, it has been found that people from Bangladesh are particularly likely to die of COVID-19 in the UK.

In the map below, the red circles indicate the areas where people with Neanderthal DNA, which increase the risk of COVID-19 severness, live. Also, the transparent circles in East Asia, including Africa and Japan, means that the DNA was not found in this region.

``The reason why Neanderthal DNA is strongly associated with the severity of COVID-19 remains unsolved,'' Zeberg told the New York Times, but if the history of human evolution could be clarified, COVID It may be possible to see why the -19 pandemic has become so dangerous,' he said.