Some people might be more vulnerable to Covid-19 because of their genes, a new study says. Why do some people infected with the coronavirus suffer only mild symptoms while others become deathly ill. Geneticists have been scouring our DNA for clues. Now a study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Variations at two spots in the human genome are associated with an increased risk of respiratory failure in patients with Covid-19, the researchers found. One of these spots includes the gene that determines blood types. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study. The findings suggest that relatively unexplored factors may be playing a large role in who develops life-threatening Covid-19. The new study is currently going through peer review. It’s not the first time Type A blood has turned up as a possible risk. Chinese scientists who examined patient blood types also found that those with Type A were more likely to develop a serious case of Covid-19. No one knows why. “That is haunting me, quite honestly,” said Andre Franke, a molecular geneticist at the University of Kiel in Germany and a co-author of the new study. Source
