US scientists link mitochondrial DNA levels with severity of COVID-19 21 January 2021 | News Mitochondrial DNA levels were much higher in patients who eventually were admitted to the ICU, intubated or died Source: Shutterstock Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have shown that a relatively simple and rapid blood test can predict — within a day of a hospital admission — which patients with COVID-19 are at highest risk of severe complications or death. The study, published Jan 14 in JCI Insight, involved nearly 100 patients newly admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. The blood test measures levels of mitochondrial DNA, a unique type of DNA molecule that normally resides inside the energy factories of cells.