Researchers In Sweden Identify Gene Variant That Protects Against Covid

80 per cent of individuals of African ancestry carried the protective variant, the researchers said.

Researchers have identified a specific gene variant that protects against severe COVID-19 infection.

An international team led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden pinpointed the variant by studying people of different ancestries.

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, shows that genes can influence whether we become severely affected or only suffer mild illness from COVID-19.

Previous studies on mainly people of European ancestry have found that individuals carrying a particular segment of DNA have a 20 per cent lower risk of developing a critical COVID-19 infection.