Severe covid-19 symptoms linked to more than 1300 genetic variants

More than 1000 genes may contribute to a person's risk of developing severe covid-19, on top of life circumstances such as their age, ethnicity and any health conditions. Most of the genes, discovered in a study of more than 1 million people, affect the functioning of two kinds of immune cells. If the results are confirmed, they could inform a test that assesses a person's risk of getting badly ill with covid-19, says Johnathan Cooper-Knock at the University of Sheffield, UK. "We know there are young people who are otherwise fit that get severe covid," he says. "We are trying to get at the genetic determinants that put people at risk irrespective of the more obvious things." Cooper-Knock's team used artificial intelligence to analyse results from a global dataset called The Covid-19 Host Genetics Initiative, a genetics project run by a group of researchers and companies.