(ORDO NEWS) — The 2020 pandemic changed the world, but it didn’t change scientists — they still continue to study the virus and its impact on people. So, a new study has shown that covid is harmful to humans due to a gene from Neanderthals.
A group of British scientists have found that people have a hard time with coronavirus infection due to one particular gene.
He came to us about 60 thousand years ago. And the reason for this is sex with a Neanderthal man, who “infected” a person with this “vulnerability” gene.
“If you stop and think about it, this is due to one interspecies relationship and one child. That is, people once had a chance to endure the pandemic much better, ”said James Davies, associate professor of genomics at the Radcliffe School of Medicine at the University of Oxford.
Weakness due to sex
The scientist is referring to a genetic variation associated with LZTFL1, a gene that causes lung cells to produce more protein on their surface.
Namely, this protein “clings” to coronavirus bacteria, which allows the infection to spread effectively in the body and cause more harm to health.
The LZTFL1 variant is reported to be more common in people of South Asian descent. However, it is also noted that the same Neanderthals passed on useful genes to humanity too: for example, those that help in the fight against other bacteria or make it possible to better adapt to a new diet.
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