Scientists at the University of Oxford have discovered a gene that they suggest nearly doubles the risk of severe COVID-19. The study was published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
Scientists conducted a genome-wide analysis (GWAS). He identified chromosomal territory 3p21.31, which is associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of respiratory failure.
“We used a machine learning and molecular biology platform to decode the GWAS results and identified the relatively unexplored LZTFL1 gene as potentially responsible for this risk,” the study says.
According to scientists, this gene is found in 60% of people of South Asian origin and only 15% of Europeans. This may explain the higher mortality rate in the corresponding population in the UK, they suggested.
Scientists have named the factors affecting survival in severe covid