Specific genetic target could help explain the variation in COVID-19 effects
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, has identified a specific genetic target that could help explain the tremendous variation in how sick those infected with COVID-19 become.
The study results, recently published in the journal
mSphere, describe a molecule made from DNA -- miR1307 -- as a potential dimmer switch that may influence the severity of the disease; why some infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have mild or even no symptoms, while others become seriously ill or die.
Led by Nicholas Schork, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor and Director of TGen's Quantitative Medicine and Systems Biology Division, researchers identified miR1307 by comparing the genetic elements of SARS-Cov-2 with seven other human coronaviruses, some of which merely cause common colds. In addition, they examined the genomes of coronavirus strains known to infect bats, pigs, pangolins, ferrets, civets and chickens.